Lego: Ninjago Gems of the Underworld
by Mikuholiclover
Summary: After the Overlord was been defeated, Ninjago has never been so peaceful. But the ninjas craved for new missions as they are stuck in community service, until a myth revealed that turned out to be true w/ new darkness. The ninjas must find all the 4 gems of the underworld before the serpentines takes them and gives it to their new master. A story full of adventure, comedy, and love


** Hello everyone! So just wanted to say that this is my first Ninjago fanfic and I just created the story right after the last episode of season 3! I decided to write this before the new season starts, since it is more about evil nindroids. I just wanted to put my own ideas first I hope you enjoy reading it and please no rude comments, let's respect one another here ****J**** Thank you! R AND R! (P.S. I think Zane is the cutest!) and (They're still legos here)**

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**Chapter One: Cleaning the Mess**

Ever since the chaos that was brought upon Ninjago ended, the home of the ninjas has never been so peaceful. After Lloyd, the green ninja, reunited with his father, Garmadon they went their ways together including Lloyd's mother, Misako to have their bonding moments as a family. However, what does Sensei Wu felt about Misako, now that his brother is back?

After what they had been through, and the tragic events they experienced along with their fellow ninjas, for Sensei Wu it didn't seem to matter anymore. All that was left important, was that Misako had her family back happily and everything were back into place. It wasn't easy for him. He still loves Misako dearly but things needed to adjust to time to time and remained they were.

Nevertheless, the adventure doesn't start here…it starts in a long forgotten legend.

**_"There was once two guardians, a man and a woman, both husband and wife. They vowed to protect four special gems of the dark realm, so that now one can use it for evil sake. The four stones represents as the keys of unlocking a portal to release the most unspeakable creatures from the underworld. _**

**_The four golden weapons was one thing, and it was to help Lord Garmadon escape from the felonious land, but never the golden weapons unleashing the monsters. But then, an evil sorceress wanted these gems for herself just so she could control the monsters and destroy what she desires. _**

**_When the two guardians found out about the sorceress' plot, they hid the four gems far away from Ninjago. Each gem has different purpose, therefore placed in different locations. But in order for the other three stones to be found, it needed the fourth gem to search for them. For that reason, the fourth was the most well concealed somewhere the sorceress will never find. The guardians had indeed hid the stones across the world, yet it came with a great price…_**

**_As soon as the malevolent mistress was infuriated of searching the four gems, with her powers, she banished the two guardians forever. It was for long years she had search for these gems in all her life, yet with no success. In the legend, no body knows where the gems of the underworld were hidden…"_**

**_Now, some believed that this story was only just of those mythical stories around Ninjago. But what they didn't know that this may lead to a new destruction... _**

* * *

Thursday morning, Ninjago city has finally been restored to its normal state again…half it apparently. The citizens of Ninjago were at their hard work to

renovate their hometown after the overlord ruined it for them. The buildings, the malls, the junk shops, and the superstructures were down to its last

bits. It almost took them months to rebuild everything even with the numbers of helpers around, still there were criminals out in the streets, looting

everywhere while the authority were busy assisting the people. Evil doesn't sleep does it?

In the eastern street of Ninjago, probably five blocks away from Dareth's dojo, a robbery had occurred in an antique shop. Two goons barged the door

open, running and carrying sacks of rare old-fashioned relics. The people nearby witnessed what happened and was shocked at the fact a poor man's

values were stolen.

The owner of the shop ran out from his store as he raised his fist with rage," HEY COME BACK HERE THOSE ARE MINE!"

The criminals ignored his attention then laughed at him.

"Man! Think how much money if we sell these!" proclaimed the robber, wearing a black and white striped shirt. His partner with a black beanie, nodded,

"This will make us rich for sure!"

And then out of the blue, they collided something hard and bounced away to the ground.

"Auugh…" the robber whined, rubbing his head, "What hit us..?"

They both looked up to see a silhouetted image standing before them until it spoke…

"When will you realize that stealing is wrong?" The voice sounded deep but tough in his tone. It was only a minute before the image revealed. The two

criminals were taken aback, to see a guy wearing a red and black kimono, arms crossed over his chest, and staring down at them as if they were prett

y hopeless. It was Kai, the ninja of fire.

The two were utterly speechless, knowing they could not beat one of the heroes of Ninjago. Quickly, they stood up and ran the opposite where Kai

stood, but only to see another black ninja before them. It was Cole, the ninja of earth.

"Well…well…well…look what we have here"? Cole said, crunching his knuckles, "Two blind mice? Not to mention you guys are our tenth beat down."

"I thought it was the twelfth, Cole?" A voice appeared, yet with uncertainty and humor in his tone. Jay was the blue ninja of lightning, who just walked

behind Cole.

Cole felt a little annoyed by his feedback, knowing it didn't matter whether how many guys they had captured. He gave Jay that _would be eyebrow, _"Seriously, Jay? We're going to talk about this?!"

Jay shrugged his shoulders, "What?! I just wanted to be sure it was the twelfth. After all, I'm the one with the _most _crooks captured."

"What is that even suppose to mean?" Cole asked, seriously.

"It means Jay wanted to be sure he has the highest numbers of criminals he captured just to prove himself he is the best."

Another voice interfered in the conversation, only this time it sounded cool yet serious. It was Zane, the ninja of ice, leaning against the street pole with his arms folded across his chest.

Cole grabbed Jay by his garment and gave him a stern look, "Is that so…?"

Terrified, Jay gulped nervously. "Oh c-c-c'mon Cole…I'm just playing around…hehehe…"

"Jay, this isn't about some games or high scores. This is about helping the people rebuild Ninjago. We're here to clean the mess." Cole stated as he lets go Jay's garment calmly.

"Oh c'mon! That's all we ever did!" Jay complained, gesturing his arms like a child, "We barely have time to have ourselves free…I mean, all we did is do this, do that, Jay pick that up, Jay would you clean this, or Jay could you-!"

"ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT! WE GET YOU!" Kai interrupted, walking towards the two. He only interrupted because he was irritated at the fact Jay was talking

too much. He added, "And who says you're the highest? I thought I have more compared to you."

"Zip it the two of you!" Cole commanded. The two managed to shut their mouths up and looked at Cole. The Earth ninja took a deep breath to calm himself then spoke, "Look…as much as I hate this too, but Sensei Wu told us to help around, whether you like it or not! And the sooner we get this done, the sooner we get home."

"Sooner?!" Jay protested, "It took us almost months to clean the entire city. I didn't even have time to spend with Nya those months."

"Dude, she's my sister. Even I don't see her much, but Cole's right, we have to lend a hand whether we like it or not." Kai said.

Jay sighed, "I guess you're right…But that doesn't change me being the-!"

"JAY!" Kai and Cole yelled in unison.

Meanwhile, little what they didn't know, was the robbers were silently creeping away. Zane was clever enough to realize that while the other three were busy with their squabbles.

"And where do you think you're going?" Zane questioned as he blocked the robbers' way. He put his hood on, "I'll take that if you don't mind." He snatched the two bags, and then he made himself into that unique spin called, spinjitzu.

"Ninja GOOO!" Zane exclaimed. A form of white frosty twister came, grabbing one robber to another. It was so sudden, the robbers felt they were

sucked in by the twister and a sharp jab hit right on their faces. The next thing they knew, they came flying away to the ground with a huge ache on

their body. Soon, their body gave up and fell unconscious. Cole heard a loud thud, and saw Zane already fought the two robbers. He also noticed he

had retrieved the stolen antiques.

"Way to go, Zane!" Cole cheered. A minute after, a man came running towards them panting.

It was the owner of the antique shop, hoping the ninjas had already got his products back.

The old man came to a halt, still catching up his breath. "Excuse me—"

"I believe this belongs to you." Zane finished his words before he could finish his. He gave him the bags to the store owner. Some of the people nearby approached to the ninjas and applauded for doing another good deed.

"Thank you so much, ninjas." The old man thanked, shaking Zane's hand.

Jay popped behind Zane with a grin on his face, "No problem sir! Just doing our job!"

"You didn't even do anything." Kai protested.

"Of course I did…" One of the robbers slowly went conscious, raising his head dizzily. Jay instantly punched him on the face while he looked at Kai, "See! I did do something."

Cole smacked his hand towards his face then dragged it down to his chin. He was quite annoyed when it comes to Jay's reputation. Then he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around, seeing an old woman, holding her walking stick.

"Pardon me, young man…but can you please help me..? The old lady pointed her walking stick to her toppled red coup car on top of another vehicle. Probably the tow trucks haven't been doing their jobs lately, "My car hasn't been return to me."

Cole nodded and smiled, "Of course, ma'am." Cole approached the old lady's car, held it both by the side, and lifted it with all his might.

"Where…do you want me to…put it ma'am?" Cole asked, lifting a 3180 pound car.

The old lady pondered for awhile, until she pointed her stick again to a near parking lot.

"You can just put it on that spot right there…so I won't be having problems with the parking. After all, I am going to the supermarket. Would that be ok?" she said.

"No problem, ma'am." Cole confirmed. And with that, Cole walked towards the spot where the old lady had mentioned, and ever so careful he positioned the car to its normal state. The old lady was happy now that her car is back. "Thank you, dear!" she thanked.

Cole smiled, dusting his hands from the dirt, "Anytime, ma'am."

"Hey how come Lloyd's not helping?" Jay asked as he walked towards Cole. Kai and Zane followed behind.

"C'mon give him a break. He deserves to be with his dad after what he did to Ninjago." Cole answered.

"Yeah. With us!" Jay began, "He saved Ninjago with us. Don't you think he'd still help?"

Kai cling his hand on Jay's shoulder, "Don't worry, we'll make sure he gets the heaviest jobs last." He looked away, with a bit of fury in his eyes, "But that doesn't mean I still trust Garmadon…even if he's changed."

Just then, they heard wheels screeching, doors slamming, and clanking footsteps, getting closer and closer…All four of them craned their necks to the source.

Cole squinted his eyes through the crowd just to see what it was. From the sound they heard, it sounded very familiar for them, until he heard a woman's voice surging through the crowd as if she was in a hurry. And that's when Cole realized what it was…

_"Excuse me! Pardon me! You whoooooo ninjas!" _

About a second or so, a woman holding a microphone appeared along with her camera man and other photographers. It was none other than the Famous Ninjago News cast.

Cole frowned, "Oh boy…"

The ninjas were suddenly surrounded by news cast and flashing lights from the cameras. And the reporter began…

**"_Good Morning Ninjago City! This is Amy Lin live from East Street of Ninjago."_**She walked close by the ninjas, who were blocking their eyes from the flashes._ **"Today, I'm with the group of our heroes who saved us from that evil overlord. Right now, they just did another heroic deed!"** _She placed the microphone near Cole,_ **"Tell us how you managed another sinister crime, earth ninja." **_

Cole didn't answer very well from the reporter's blabbering questions. Ever since the chaos ended, Cole and others were merely exposed by mass Medias and not to mention their fan girls as well, chasing them everywhere they go. They liked it at first from getting their selves very popular, but through the long periods, it bothered them more than Jay's non-stop talkative moments.

"Uuuh…." Was Cole could muster. Kai leaned close to Zane and whispered, "These reporters are a pain in the butt!"

Zane nodded, "Indeed."

But then, when things began to another came a second… Few minutes after the news team came, the ninjas heard another wide-ranging noise coming three blocks away. It sounded as if it was a hurdling _screams…girl screams to be exact. _Momentarily, they saw the girls running towards the ninjas' direction, holding their shout-out banners, tarpaulins, and posters, written in one simple phrase, **_'We love you ninjas!'_**

"Oh great! First it's the reporters now the fan girls!" Jay panicked, "What are we going to do?!"

"Ok guys, huddled up!" Cole said as all of them huddled close, "This is what we are going to do…operation _escape plan five point M. _Kai, Zane, you know what to do…"

Kai and Zane both nodded in agreement. In a little while, the ninjas came back, facing the Medias again, only this time Cole, Jay, and Zane were huddled closer, hiding Kai away.

In the meantime, Kai disappeared in an instant as he crawled through the ground, avoiding himself getting stepped by people's shoes, one did though.

"Ouch!" Kai winced, crawling out of the crowd. He was aiming to the nearby manhole, where they can easily escape. Undetected, Kai finally came out through the crowd then signaled the other three. Zane saw he signaled, and that was the time his part came.

"Huh? That's strange…where is kai?" Zane asked loudly, pretending he didn't really know. The TV reporters were puzzled and started to exchange glances. Suddenly, Kai shouted, waving his arms, "Hey reporters! I'm right here!"

Turning their heads, all the reporters and fan girls ran to Kai.

"Here's our chance!" Cole declared. The three of them silently crept away towards the opened manhole, which Kai had already opened it for them, and then climb down the sewers. Zane was the last one, waving Kai.

When Kai saw them managed to escape, his part was almost done.

"OK! Folks, thanks for your time…but we gotta go!" With that, Kai jumped as high as he could and did a triple summer salt, landing himself directly to

the manhole. The Medias and fan girls were astonished by his stunt but went awed when the ninjas vanished. Although Kai popped his head out again

and gave one of his devilish wink to his fan girls, then disappeared again.

"Oh my gosh! Kai just winked at me!" announced one of the fan girls and fainted. Deep down in the sewers, Cole, Jay, and, Zane waited Kai to be with

them. Once he was, that was when they complained.

Cole placed his hands on his hips, "Do you seriously have to do that?"

Kai shrugged, "What? Girls love that."

Jay covered his nose. He looked around, not believing they were in a stinky-dark-damp-infested place.

"PEE YUU! This place stinks!" Jay groused, turning to Cole, "Why didn't we use operation three point B?"

"Because Jay, there's no bus. We only use operation three point B if there's a bus to escape." Cole explained tiringly, "Zane lead the way."

Zane activated his emergency light within his mechanical system. His head illuminates the sewer darkness and began walking forward. The three followed.

"This stinks!" Jay objected.

"Tell me about it." Kai said comically.

"Which stinks? The fact we got all the tasks in hand…or…we got surrounded by a group of reporters and fan girls again and ended up in the sewers? Zane enumerated.

Cole responded, "Actually kind'a both."

Jay sighed and shook his head, "I just wish we could have at least a vacation…if not a vacation…a new mission I guess."

"_This is our new mission _Jay, helping rebuild Ninjago." Kai implied, "You know, you should be glad you're a part of it."

Deep down, he too, missed those days where they start new adventures than what they are doing right now, which was cleaning the mess.

"_Actually…a new mission would be nice. I miss the old days." _Kai Thought_._

Jay felt he would just disagree with Kai. His thoughts were mainly on his desires to be with Nya, Kai's sister. It has been for months that they haven't

spent much time together. Jay would leave early in the morning to his usual routine, which was helping the people of Ninjago rebuild the city, and Nya

would help around the Destiny's Bounty with Sensei Wu and Dr. Julien. And yes, their ship was merely recovered after they left the Dark Island with the

help of the ultimate dragons. If ever they see each other, a crime occurs, making Jay leave Nya for another duty. For a moment, Jay was lost in his train

of thoughts about Nya, and had forgotten what Kai mentioned.

"I just miss Nya…" Jay mumbled under his breath.

"What was that, Jay?" Kai enquired, hearing a little from Jay.

Jay eyes went wider than usual when he heard Kai. Jay realized he was lost in his own thoughts again. He shook the thought away and went back to his senses.

"I—I mean…."Jay stuttered. He thought of some words he could muster, so that he wouldn't sound he was thinking of Nya. He looked around, searching a way to finish his sentence. Until, he saw slithering worms on the walls. That was when he got an idea.

He chuckled lousily, "What I was trying to say…uhmm…this place is just filled with worms! That's it, worms!"

Kai tilted his head in puzzlement, confused at the way Jay had been acting.

"Well of course it's filled with worms. It's a sewer for Pete's sake!" Kai assumed.

"Speaking of slither…"Zane spoke, "Ever since the stone army began, I haven't seen those snakes lurking around Ninjago."

"Kai stopped his walk, "Come to think of it…" He looked up, recalling about their old reptilian foes of there last whereabouts, "I haven't seen them either. Usually they would just come out and steal something."

"Maybe they went back to their hiding place. Their tombs perhaps?" Zane Suggested smartly.

Cole pounded his fists, sounding tough, "Where ever they are…they better stay hidden or else!"

A few minutes later, the four of them continued to walk further through the sewers, pending to see a different exit. Hopefully somewhere they can't be found by reporters and fan girls again.

Of course, the stench of the sewer probably stained on their kimonos by the time they leave the damp place.

Also, it was unfortunate for them as well, since it was still early in the morning, they would still have to help around even if it means smelling like garbage. Well…nobody said being a hero was easy…

As time passed by, the ninjas did much work more compared the previous days. Sometimes, they lend a hand as much as possible for those people who

were indeed in assistance. The overlord did a lot of damage in the city of Ninjago, therefore it was possible to recover everything in a long period of

time. Cole, Jay, Kai, and Zane did the best they can for Ninjago.

Cole helped some workers, carrying the heaviest rubbles, that none of their trucks can't carry. Kai had to beat some overall thugs, interfering with the

authorities, and putting them behind bars. Jay became part for a charity work for those people who lived in the streets or no home, now being feed by

Jay's some sort of chowder. Though, Jay wouldn't mind having for himself as he dipped his spoon into the chowder then happily ate it. Zane was in the

animal shelter, retrieving those lost animals to the keepers. His feathered companion, Falcon, appeared soaring above the sky, watching his master.

It was a long day gone. The sunset had arrived with its warm light to meet with the horizon.

At the docks, the Destiny's Bounty seemed sturdy, yet the ship was not yet ready to set sail or airborne. The engine was too damaged. The rocket boosters needed some replacements and to mention the risk whether the Bounty was possible to fix. But, at least it was still considered a home for the heroes.

"Do you think, the bounty will ever be fixed?" Nya questioned, Kai's little sister. She stood right next to Dr. Julien, Zane's father and creator. He was lying underneath the engine of the ship, trying to decipher the main problem why it wasn't working from the past couple of months, after he sort of crashed it.

"It will be fixed. It has to be. If not, we're going to find another way or another. Just have faith in it, Nya." Dr. Julien responded, arranging some sparks plug to its corresponding outlet. He checked every wire if it was really in place to the other wires. When he was done, he pushed himself out under the engines, stood up, dusting off the dust off his shoulders.

He looked at Nya, "Alright, Nya let her rip!"

Nya went by the main switch. She pulled two levers down, two up, and the last was the main lever. She pushed it to full throttle. A minute or so, they

heard the valves crackled as the lights flickered. The main monitor blinked repeatedly, and then the generator shook to function. Dr. Julien and Nya

gazed at each other with smiles on their faces. They felt the adrenaline of success and a job well done. In spite of everything they had done to fix the

ship, this one could be it. All of a sudden, the engine began to shake terribly into smokes, the valves exploded simultaneously, and the main monitor

blanked. To think Dr. Julien and Nya hoped for.

They both cough from the smoke, spreading across the bridge.

"I don't understand…it almost worked!" Dr. Julien claimed, coughing.

Nya waved the smoke away her face, "At least the generator didn't explode…"

When the smoke nearly vanished, Dr. Julien and Nya heard footsteps coming towards the entrance. To their surprise, the door was completely knocked away to the floor. Then came Sensei Wu tumbled in midair and landed with strike, "I heard an explosion! Is everyone alright?"

"Everything is fine, Sensei." Nya explained, "Except the door…"

Dr. Julien sighed gloomily, "It's just the engine I'm afraid."

"I see that there is no luck yet." Sensei Wu spoke, stroking his white long beard.

Dr. Julien walked towards the totaled engine. He observed the machine and noticed the spark plugs were severely…_kapoot! _But that didn't stop a great inventor like him. He exhaled once more and adjusted his glasses, "No matter, we'll just fix it tomorrow or possibly replace it."

Nya stiffened. She started smelling something…foul. "Uhmm…do you smell something?" she asked.

"It must be the smoke left from the engine." Dr. Julien answered.

"Nya sniffed some more just to be sure she was accurate about the smell, "No…it's something else…" She felt a slight sting in her nose as the stench was getting worst, "Eew! It smells like something landed in the sewers!"

Soon, both Dr. Julien and Sensei Wu detected the nasty scent, spreading the entire room.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Kai greeted, entering the bridge, followed by the three.

Jay paused and noticed the door was on the floor, "What happened to the door?"

"So any luck with the bounty?" Cole asked, hoping the ship would work by then.

Nya sighed sadly, "No…she's not yet fix guys." She covered her nose, "And what happened to you guys?"

Zane was about to answer her question, but was cut off with Nya's wild guess.

"Let me guess…you got chase by reporters and fan girls again and used operation five point M?"

Zane, Cole, and Kai looked down in shame, "Yes…" they said in unison.

However, Jay gazed dazedly upon Nya, loving how he likes her being so smart.

He released a contentment sigh, "I love it when you're being smart…" He spread his arms, ready to hug his girl.

But Nya carefully nudged him by the chest, trying to resist the odor around Jay's clothes.

"Uhmm…maybe you could take a shower first before you hug me, Jay?" Nya suggested, covering her nose. Jay felt his heart crushed and a little embarrassed when Nya said that. He thought of it at first to take a bath before giving some sugar to Nya, but because of his dreamy eyes on her, he forgot. He lifted his arm to his nose, smelling the odor. His eyes bolted up of how Nya was right about the smell. He also almost gagged by it too.

Sensei Wu approached his students, "So how was your day my fellow ninjas?"

"Lame." Cole said, "Nothing new happened today."

Kai crossed his arms over his chest, "Boring…"

Jay waved his hand over his nose, "It stinks!"

Zane sighed with deep weary eyes, "Exhausting…"

"Sensei Wu…" Jay began, "Don't you think we deserve a little vacation? Or maybe just a day off?"

"Yeah Sensei, we've been talking about it on our way home." Kai said. The master of spinjitsu gave the four a very strict look. He placed his hand behind his back while the other continuously stroking his beard, "The overlord may be vanished for good, but evil still lurks around and _does not sleep_. As long Ninjago city is still in its recovery…"

He pointed his hand on each of his pupils, "You are to do your task to help the civilians. Am I quite clear?"

All the four looked down with gloom as they sighed in defeat, "Yes, Sensei…" they replied in unison.

"And…I sort of promised the mayor of this city that you would help around…" Sensei Wu added, scratching the back of his head with a hint of shame.

"Well that figures!" Kai said curtly.

Meanwhile, Dr. Julien looked at the four drained ninjas. He disagreed with Sensei Wu. In his opinion, the ninjas much did a spectacular job helping around the city, and he didn't want his son to be tired too much. Though, he maybe a machine that has high endurance compared to others. Still, he looked at him not as a machine but a human being.

Walking towards to Sensei Wu, Dr. Julien cling his hand on his shoulder, "Sensei Wu…if you please…The ninjas did a wonderful job in helping. Although don't you think they do deserve a break? After all, they're just young men. I'm pretty sure they want time for themselves."

Nya agreed to what Dr. Julien stated. At this rate, Nya will have the chance to be with Jay if Sensei Wu agrees.

She nodded, 'He's right, Sensei Wu and besides..." She looked at Jay lovingly, "We do need help around here in the bounty." Sensei Wu pondered for awhile, thinking about what his old friend said. It had been true, for the past five months they were doing their duties very well without a single crook escape behind bars and the people of NInjago were pleased that the ninjas were at aid to them. Then the results came out.

He let out a breath the said, "I suppose you are right…Maybe you do deserve a day off."

Cole, Jay, Kai, and Zane beamed by Sensei Wu's answer!

"For reals!? Cool!" Jay exclaimed happily.

"Awsome! I can't wait to beat you guys with _fist to fist 4_ in our game!" Kai challenged, facing his three brothers.

Cole looked Kai in the eyes with confidence, "You're on!"

Suddenly, a man outside the ship called the ninjas for help. All of them stopped their merry making and quickly ran outside the ship. As they got out, they saw the person, seeking for help.

"Please ninjas! Some bandits were attacking near the village! You gotta help us!"

"Help is on the way, sir!' Cole confirmed, putting his hood on. He gazed at his brothers, already putting their hoods, "Well…looks like we have one last job to do before our day off start guys."

"Let's just get this over with so that we can be done with it!" Kai proclaimed.

And with that, they all shouted, "Ninja Gooo!" They formed a twister of their elemental powers, hurdling towards the village the man talked about.

Sensei Wu watched them proudly. Helping other people was a gift, and glad he taught that to his students. He bellowed at them as they spin their way to the village, trying to emphasize his last remarks, "I told you evil don't sleep!"

* * *

**Chapter two: Snakes slither, not chained**

Deep below the surface of NInjago, there was once a tomb where the stone army stood, trapped for a millennium and was never to be woken up. But with time changed everything, this stone army left on the hands of Lord Garamadon but soon was stopped by the ninjas.

Now, what was left inside the tomb?

"KEEP DIGGING YOU FOOLSSSSSS! NO ONE STOPSSSS UNTIL I SAY SSSSO!" Skales commanded aggressively, banging his snake staff on the ground.

The snake clans of all kinds followed their new snake king's order, although that was to some generals looked at him as if he was demoted. The clans of the hypnobrai, contrictai, venomari, and the fangpyre, all held mining hammers, and all pounding walls to find an escape route.

Few contrictai members dug a lot of holes on the ground, creating a tunnel deep below their scaly feet…and tails. So far, there hasn't been any way out for the trapped snake clans. And even if the constrictai tunneled several holes, they would end up a dead end.

For now, the generals of the snake clans just stood in one spot, watching Scales how he made himself an utterly fool.

"Look at him! It has been five months and he ssstill he cannot accept the fact we are sssstuck here forever." Fangtom simpered, the two headed general of the fangpyre clan.

"He completely lossssst it!" Skalidor agreed, the general of the constrictai clan.

Skales swiveled. He seemed that he overheard the other generals. When he saw them slacking off, he slithered towards them with a mad expression.

"What are you three sssslacking for? Get up and go to work!" Skales demanded.

Acidicus, the general of the venomari clan, shook his head, "Give it up Skales! There is no way we can escape from here. Don't you get it? We're sssstuck!"

Skales gave them a stern look, "We _will_ escape if you three cooperate! And when we do, we will conquer Ninjago once more and destroy those pathetic ninjasssss!" He wacked his staff on his hand, "And beside…it isssss only a matter of time when we get hungry again or else we have eat another of our member tribessss and that would lose our workers."

The four different snake tribes heard Skales, and then paused their work. They began to bring that thought into their heads about getting eaten by the generals. With that, they hammered and dug faster like they never hammered and dug before.

"Face it Ssskales! We are going to need a miracle to get out of here!" The left - head Fangtom implied.

That was about to change…

Moments later, the ground began to tremble. Debris fell from the ceiling, hitting the snake's scaly heads. The constrictai tribe members quickly climbed back up to the surface while other tribes dropped their mining hammers, terrified of the situation they were dealing with. It seemed the unknown force was coming behind the huge boulder that blocked the exit a few months ago.

"What issss going on?!" Acidicus questioned, trying to maintain his balance from the shake.

"Earthquake!" Skalidor shouted.

Skales noticed the boulder was starting to forms cracks, racing through its hard solid body and then was burst out into small chunks of rocks. The four generals were blown away from the impact as dusts spread across the tomb, making the snakes coughed with ache.

Behind all the misty dusts, a silhouetted image appeared, walking towards the snake generals.

It was only a matter of time the image revealed. Except for the face for it was well concealed because of what it was wearing an all black hooded coat, similar to the death's garment.

Skales cowardly squirmed away from the mysterious being, "No please! Don't hurt me! I'm just an innocent Sssssnake! Hurt them instead!"

The three generals gazed at one another then looked back to Skales with fury and utter disappointment.

The mysterious man reached out his hand, and spoke with a light voice but slightly deep, "Why would I hurt you? You're exactly what I needed…friend."

Stopped his squirming, Skales looked upon the hand he was about to hold with. He nervously reached out but sometimes his hand backed away because he had the feeling their mysterious friend would throw him to the wall, surprisingly he didn't.

The man hoisted Skales up back to his tail. Skales brushed off the debris off his body and then looked at his new friend.

"Pardon me, but who are you?" Right-headed fangtom asked, standing up.

Skales slithered around the man, observing him of his dark essence, his mysterious looks, hiding beneath his black hooded coat, and his eyes…his eyes glowed like macabre yellow.

"Yesssss…who are you and what do you want from ussss?" Skales repeated Fangtom's question.

There was silence…it took for the man to answer until the silence broke down.

"I am your new master…and you will obey me for the task I will be given to you." Was he could muster.

Again, the silence went back, and if ever there were crickets down the tomb, they would create that noise where a joke fails, but it didn't, instead the serpentine tribes just laughed at him like as if it was a joke or _he was the joke_.

Skales instantly stopped his laughter, but left a small chuckle, "That isss a good joke…but we snakes slither freely…"He banged his staff to the ground furiously, "And we DO NOT follow orders to some ssssstranger!" He waved his arm away," Not ever…"

All the serpentine tribe began to march out of the tomb including their generals as they left the man behind. The general of the hypnobrai turned around to give one last look at his so called friend, "But…thank you for your offer...and when I say offer, it means helping us escape this dump!" He laughed more menacingly as he exited.

The mysterious man gave them a furious look, "So…you think you can just walk away from me..?"

Strangely, a black mist suddenly engulfed around the snakes' body. All of them were stopped and were flabbergasted to the thing that surrounds them. Everyone was confused how and where it came from. Next, the black smoke shifted into a ring then into a black collar chain with ancient markings printed on the collar.

"What issss the meaning of thissss!?" Acidicus said, pulling off the chain around his wrist. But somehow, the chain won't pull out easily like as if it was unbreakable.

The Fangpyre tribe and Fangtom's chain was wrapped around their necks. The Contrictai clan and Skalidor's chain was locked around their tail. The Hypnobrai's chain was wrapped around their heads like a band. For Skales however, the leader of the Hypnobrai, was…unique. Instead, his dark accessories appeared around his head, neck, wrists, and tail.

He squirmed again, trying to break the chains around his scaly body and fell to the ground. It only took him minutes to realize where this black magic came from, as he heard a wicked laughter from their new friend.

"YOU!" He bellowed, "YOU'RE BEHIND ALL THISSS!"

This was the part where it is going to be painful…

Raising his hand, the black hooded man showed his finger that appears touching his thumb. Skales's red spiraled eyes went wider than usual because he knew exactly what the man was going to do next.

He cried, "NOOOO!"

The man had snapped his finger. The chains' markings glowed bright, causing a mysterious dark energy while it gives the snakes a powerful electrifying sensation. In other words, shock collar.

The serpentine tribes were in pain, feeling that horrible torture within their body, and Skales had to endure the most. Few seconds, the torture had stopped by a single snap of a finger.

Gasping from the pain, Skales mustered all his strength to get up, looking back to his new foe.

He panted, "Who…who are you...?"

The black hooded man began walking towards Skales, "I am someone you should fear…"

"Lord Garmadon?" Skalidor guessed, trembling.

The black hooded man exploded, "I AM NOT GARMADON!" Once again, he snapped his finger, making the snakes suffer from the same torture.

"PLEASE STOP! STOOOP!" Skales begged, wriggling like a worm. The man did what he said.

This time, neither of the snakes had the urge to get up to their feet and tails. They were too scared to move.

The mysterious man crouched down to Skales' level, "Here…let me explain to you something…"

He stood up and pulled out a huge brown book from his black coat. The book was somehow looked very old…in fact, it was ancient. The main cover was almost torn and the pages were ripped from the spine. He opened the book then flipped the papers to a certain page. When he found it, he showed it to all the snakes. Inside the book, it shows a picture of four different gems.

"All you have to do is to find these gems and bring it to me. Is that so hard?" He explained.

Skalidor raised his hand, "Uuuh…what does those gems do?"

The enemy grinned, "Good question my friend…" He slammed the book closed, "You see, these gems are keys…keys to open a powerful portal to the underworld, when opened, it will release unspeakable creatures that sucks the souls of every innocent people on Ninjago…" He added, "Even for snakes…"

The snakes gulped and trembled before the gems' true power. He continued, "I on the other hand can control them and rule Ninjago once and for all—now that Garmadon is gone! I can finally take his place."

But then he sighed in defeat and began walking around the generals, "But alas…I've searched for these gems for almost a thousand years ago and could not find them…That is why I needed your help…If you help me, I will return you're freedom."

Skales gathered all his strength to stand against his menace foe. His arms wobbled at first, but managed to stay strong.

"And what happens if we don't? Big…whoop!" He declared proudly, "We may have chains around our body, but that doesn't mean we will follow your pathetic orderssss. What are we? Dogssss?!" The only reason why Skales said that was because he was tired of being ordered around from his past, especially with Lord Garmadon.

The serpentine tribes were amazed by Skales' inspirational speech. They felt more worth it, strong, and brave. Unfortunately, they were wrong when their black hooded foe raised another hand. Only this time, it was a different hand. The snakes shielded themselves, preparing for another shocking torment. He placed his other hand close to his mouth, and then surprisingly blew a whistle.

Out of the blue, a shadow swooped down inside the tomb. It dashed in every direction, making the snakes terribly frightened for another mysterious torment. It made a sound of flapping wings, flying above their heads, and soon, it hovered on the enemy's arm. It was a bird…a big one, probably twice the size of Zane's falcon. The bird had white ruffled feathers on its head down to its neck and a dark brown on the body. The eyes however was different, it had only one eye with a long scar, reaching to its yellow beak as if it was lacerated by a sharp blade while the other one was closed. Not to mention the talons…it was sharper than the snake's fangs. The bird was a bald eagle, looking at Skalidor like he wanted to eat him.

With his master's command, his feathered apprentice, swooped towards Skalidor and…ate him like a mouse. The snakes covered and shook their eyes how horrifying the scene was. Skalidor was the leader of the constrictai clan and one of the strongest, but just got eaten by a bird smaller than his size. And now, they have all realized their foe's… or master's true power. Skales finally gave up. He now knew that he has no chance being against with him. He bowed down to his new master, followed by the three generals.

The foe, now called their master grinned with demise, satisfied with the way the snakes treated him like a boss. He gave the book to Skales, "Here, you're going to need this soon." He walked away from them to the center spot, along with his pet. Of course, as a reward for the snakes being obedient to him, he ordered his pet to do one last thing…

The bird regurgitated Skalidor from its guts. The rest of the serpentine tribe were disgusted by the sight before them, seeing Skalidor traumatized from fear and covered by bird's saliva, even though it was normal for the snakes to eat of their own kind, yet never spit it out. Snakes like their food inside their stomach. After Skalidor was brought back, a black mist surrounded their new master, concealing him out of sight. Next, a powerful blow came after then he vanished in plain sight.

Skales regretted what he did. Anger and frustration buried in his dark heart, but what choice does he have?

"Great…another lunatic like Pythor!" Skales complained, throwing his arms up. Even without the presence of their new master, still he made Skales get electrocuted.

"Augh…" He winced.

* * *

**Chapter 3: A Ninja's Day Off**

Friday morning, the sun was up, shinning its warm light upon Ninjago. It was 7:30 in the morning, and usually the ninjas were already awake before that time. To what they had recalled, today was their day off. It has been one hour past, the ninjas were still in their slumber. Two more hours, they were still in bed. An additional three hours came, no signs of movements. Instead, they were cozily lying down on their beds, tossing and turning, groaning, and snoring. For Jay, he was kissing his pillow, dreaming of Nya kissing her into the sunset, and also drooling.

Moments later, Nya came to their room with a frustrated look while she held a blow horn. She blew the horn loud as she could, creating that irritating racket. And it was pretty obvious what happens next.

Alarmed, Cole suddenly fell out of bed, Jay woke up with a huge headache from the noise, Kai rolled out of his bed and landed with strike as if there was an intruder, and Zane bumped his head on the upper bunk.

"Wake up guys! You don't have to sleep all day...We still need you to do something for the bounty…sheesh…" Nya announced as she walked away from the room.

Kai yawned, "What time is it?"

Zane opened his panel on his left arm, checking the time, "It is 1:30 pm…" He rubbed his bumped head, "Ow…"

"1:30 already?" Cole said, standing up, "Time surely flies by when you're asleep."

"Ouch…my head…" Jay winced, massaging his forehead.

"So…" Kai clamped his hands over his chest, "What are we going to do today?"

Jay raised his hands like a kindergarten that would know an answer, "Ooh! Ooh! We could go to the arcade by the pizza planet! And…" He began acting suavely, "I'll ask Nya later on a date."

"It's a fine weather today. Perhaps we could go for a swim." Zane suggested.

Kai snapped, "Oh! I remember something. There's an open truck rally this afternoon, we can buy ticket later and go watch it!"

"Great! All in favor to those things, say 'I'." Cole confirmed, raising his hand. The three did the same and said, "I!"

Cole added, "But first things first guys…we have to help around the bounty before we do that."

"Dude, you're taking the fun out of it." Jay protested. Kai, Jay, and Zane looked at one another as if their hiding some intentions. Cole was puzzled when he noticed. Before Cole could know, the three smacked Cole with their pillows then ran off.

"Last one to the kitchen is a rotten ninja!" Kai proclaimed, running.

"You mean Cole!" Jay teased.

Cole groaned, but smiled knowing they were just starting the day. "I'll show you rotten ninjas!" Cole said, chasing towards the kitchen.

After they had their brunch, breakfast and lunch, they head to the bridge to see what Nya stored for them for the bounty. Dr. Julien was the first one to see them.

He chuckled, "Well…good mo—I mean afternoon, boys." He looked at his watch, "My…you over slept. Good sleep didn't you?"

"Are you kidding me? It was awesome! But could have slept more…" Cole said.

Kai looked at Nya strictly, "Until Nya had to wake us up."

"Well like it or not brother, I'll end up waking you guys up anytime." Nya replied, standing next to the helm.

Sensei Wu came to the bridge, glancing around like he was searching for something.

"Excuse me everyone…but have you seen my teapot? I have just placed it in the kitchen yesterday and it was gone." He asked, scratching his head.

froze. He just remembered that he was the one who borrowed Wu's teapot for a certain invention he had been building.

"I think I might answer to that one…" Dr. Julien answered nervously. He adjusted his glasses, "You see, I have been building another invention of mine to make things easier around here. Let me show you…" He jammed his hand in his pockets, groping for a certain object, then he pulled out a small remote control with three buttons. Sensei Wu and the rest were anticipated what the device could do, until Dr. Julien pressed the first button. A small sliding door instantly opened right next to the weapon closet, and came out a robot carrying Sensei Wu's teapot.

It conveyed its way to Sensei Wu. Surprisingly, instead of Sensei making the tea, the robot was the tea maker itself. The robot reached out some tea leaves from his left panel container, dropped the tea leaves in the teapot, and then placed the teapot inside its main body. It may not be visible to see from the others, but the inside the robot, there was already hot water pouring into the pot, and spun like a blender.

The mechanical device tinged, indicating the tea was ready. Once more, the robot pulled out the teapot, grabbed a tea cup from it right panel container, pouring the tea, and served it to Sensei Wu.

Amazed, Sensei Wu sipped his tea, "Much better."

Everyone was uniquely impressed by Dr. Julien's new invention. But it was more impressive when the robot served more tea for each of them. All of them clapped hands for the inventor.

"Cool! We have our own teabot!" Jay said happily.

"A teabot?" Zane asked, looking puzzled at Jay.

Jay shrugged, looking back at Zane, "Well yeah. It has to have a name doesn't it?"

"That's not the only thing I invented." Dr. Julien proclaimed. He pressed the third button, only to lead another sliding door opened and a much bigger robot came. This time it had six arms, holding out six different cleaning materials. It went to Dr. Julien and spoke.

_"What shall I clean, master?"_

"Oh! Tell it to clean the weapon closet." Kai suggested. Without hesitation, the cleaning robot have already heard Kai and proceeded to the weapon closet. The cleaning robot began swinging and rotating its six arms as dusts and dirt were vacuumed. The weapons were each wiped until it was shiny. After that, the robot went back to its own closet.

Again, they were ever so impressed, especially Jay now that he realize he doesn't need to clean around the Destiny's Bounty.

"Does that mean we don't have to clean around?!" Jay said, excited.

"No." Niya said with her hands on her hips, "One of you guys will clean the toilet. It's clog again." While Jay was standing behind his back, he didn't know that Sensei Wu and the others left the bridge.

They covered their mouths, trying not to laugh so hard Nya and Dr. Julien knew they left, but where was the fun in that if Jay knew?

Jay boasted, "That's it?! Please…if we bros work together it will be done in no time! Right guys?"

Jay waited for their response but there was none.

"Guys?" He called again. When he turned around, seeing no one standing behind him, that's when he realized they had already left…, worst he had just volunteered himself to clean the toilet without being aware of it.

Dr. Julian walked towards to Jay, handing out the plunger, "Better get started."

"AW MAN!" Jay exclaimed, humiliated.

* * *

Two hours had passed, Jay sworn himself not to use that bathroom again after he endured cleaning it. He didn't even want to know what was clogged in the toilet bowl. As he ventured through the ocean cliffs just west side the docks, where it was really hidden so that no one can see them. Zane, Kai, and Cole were already with their swimming trunks. They decided to go with Zane's idea first, which was swimming.

Cole wore his black swimming trunk with no shirt, exposing his six pack abs. if there were fan girls around they would probably squeal and fainted. Same goes to Kai with his red swimming trunks with some flames on the sides. Zane was a conservative nindroid. He wore his white shirt and black swimming trunks, still with his dashing looks.

Cole noticed Jay was walking towards them from the distance, "Hey there's Jay already." From the looks of it, Jay didn't seem happy.

When Jay managed to reached them, Kai spoke, "So how's the cleaning, toilet boy?"

All of them laughed in their amusement, and then Zane emerged from the water then gave Kai a high five.

"HAHA! Very funny, guys!" Jay said sarcastically, "You know, you could have least warned me when you were about to leave me…But NOOO! You just had to let me do it huh?"

Kai shrugged, "Well…someone has to do it." He ran towards the very edge of the rock and dove right into the ocean, "Cannon ball!" A huge splash made Cole and Jay soaked.

"Ha! You call that a cannon ball?!" Jay bragged, "This is _real_ cannon ball!"

He spinjitzu himself transforming his garment in to his swimming outfit with his blue tank top and grey trunks. And then, he ran towards the edge and flipped in midair to make his impact heavier. Kai was caught by Jay's bigger splash. Emerged, Jay bragged Kai proudly, "Take that Kai!"

On the other hand, Cole stood, watching his brothers bragging one another while the other was enjoying his back strokes. It was a definite fine day to spend their day off by the ocean, except there was one thing that Cole couldn't get his mind out.

"Uhmm…Jay, h—how did you know that we're here?" Cole questioned.

"It's really easy…Zane's falcon is just right above your heads." Jay responded, pointing his finger up, where the bird was circling them. "Why did you asked?"

The four of them suddenly froze to their senses. The falcon was the dead give away to their location. Just then, they heard voices behind the rocks. It sounded like…girls. And that was when the four ninjas realized it was their fans.

"Psst! Cole hide!" Jay whispered loudly. Cole slightly panicked. He searched around for a good place to hide. But it was only a short time before the girls find him.

"Cole!" Kai called, "In here!" He was pointing his hand down the water, telling him to hide underwater. And so, Cole dove along with the others, took a deep breathe, and submerged below the sea floor. The part of the ocean they're at wasn't that deep. After that, three girls appeared, carrying their binoculars. These girls were really prepared…

"I swore I heard voices here." The first girl said, wearing a pink blouse. The second one with the green top looked to the third, "You sure that's Zane's Falcon? I mean there are lot falcons out there."

The third responded, seeing through her binocular to the bird, "I swear it is…but then maybe you're right...Let's rest here. My feet are killing me!" The three girls sat on the edged rocks, gazing at the beautiful scenery of the sea. Meanwhile, down below the water, Kai, Jay, Zane, and Cole sat quietly on the sea bed for about ten minutes. To Zane, he can hold his breath longer than the others, and that was why he enjoyed watching his brothers making contorted faces of them losing air as he just simply laid back with his legs crossed.

An interesting species came, crawling towards Kai, a crab. When Kai saw it, he immediately shoved it away. He didn't want to get pinched by its pincers, although it made the crab angrier. So, the crab crawled behind him where he couldn't see it.

"Alright, we should go back to the city and search for them. And I can't wait to see Zane's adorable face!" The girl with the pink blouse giggled, then the three of them left the spot.

Cole signaled Zane if the cost was clear… Zane swum up and then carefully emerged only to see the girls were gone. That's good news for them. He signaled his brothers, saying it was clear.

Kai, Jay, and Cole began swimming up to the surface. Kai However, heard a loud rip just as when he was about to swim to the top. The crab, which he shoved, clamped its pincers to his shorts.

Both Cole and Jay gasped for air.

"Whew! I thought they would never leave." Cole assumed, swimming back to the shore.

"Man! Those girls can scout better than those snakes." Jay claimed.

Zane was already on the shore, looking for Kai. When the two made it on land, they started wondering where he went.

"Have you seen Kai?" Zane asked.

"He was with us right when we went up." Cole replied.

"Psst! I'm over here!" Kai yelled with his head popped behind the edges of the rock.

"Kai? What are you still doing there? Get up here before those girls come back." Jay commanded.

Kai blushed, "I—I can't…"

"Why not?" Cole questioned. Not a minute or so, his shorts emerged from the water, ripped in half. Zane noticed it and nudged his elbow to Jay. When Jay saw it, he nudged his elbow to Cole. Once seen it, the three began to chortle until they burst out of laughter!

Kai was embarrassed and humiliated at the same time. He didn't know what to do, especially when being laughed by his best friends right in front of him. He could have just climb back to shore and just spinjitsu himself to change his outfit, but how could he when he was in the spot, where his brothers are without seeing his…

"Will you just go! So I can just spinjitsu to change my clothes!" Kai yelled angrily.

"Jay leaned his ear, laughing, "What was that Kai? You want us to stay here with you and laugh at you for the rest of your life?"

Kai snapped furiously, "I SWEAR JAY! I'LL SNAP YOU LIKE A TWIG WHEN I GET UP THERE!"

"Yeah, good luck with that buddy!" Jay boasted, laughing hard. Kai's face changed into a raging red.

Dying down the laughter, Cole began to slow down his laughter. He panted, "Alright guys…time to get…serious here…Let's leave so that Kai can change."

As much as Jay disagreed with Cole, he was right. At least Jay got even with Kai. Cole, Zane, and Jay walked away from the cliffs, leaving Kai alone to his private area. Still, they had some laughs even though their swim was short.

"So what now you guys? What are we going to do next?" Jay asked, still stoked of what happened.

"Kai did say there is a truck rally coming this afternoon." Zane reminded.

Cole pounded his fist to his palm, "Oh yeah…I total forgot about that. Good thing you reminded me Zane." He looked back at Zane, who seemed a little worried judging his countenance.

"What's wrong, Zane?" Cole questioned worriedly. Zane stopped his walk, "Well…I just hope our day does not end up…" He made the quote-unquote gesture, "_Being chased around."_

Jay waved his hands off, feeling not worried, "Pff! Please…That won't happened to us, we're ninjas. What's the worst that could happen?" Jay had said that confidently to himself, but there was a small percentage where he could be wrong…

* * *

Heading to the bounty, Cole, Zane, and Jay saw Nya and Dr. Julien were on the deck gathering some tools or any some sort of machinery parts to fix the engine again. When Jay saw Nya, he felt that love daze upon her, seeing her work so beautifully. At the same time, he felt that same nervousness whenever he intends to ask her out on a date. Nya smiled when she saw Jay, coming back from their outdoor activity.

"Hey, Jay." She said, waving at him.

She also noticed her brother wasn't with them. "Where's Kai?" she asked, puzzled.

Jay left out a loud chortle, reminded about Kai's incident. Nya felt an awkward moment with Jay's behavior. Jay quickly stopped his shenanigans, and then went back to his senses about asking Nya out, only this time he was lost in his thoughts and felt embarrassed again acting like a complete fool.

He cleared his throat, "Uh-hum..." He grinned lousily, "Aaah…Kai had something to do…But don't worry! He'll be here in a minute." From what he mentioned, he thought Kai was probably on his way to scramble his face. She stared at him for awhile, getting the information and his weird behavior all into her head. "Ok." She said, as if it was just nothing.

Jay took a deep breath, mustering what he needed to say to her, "Nya…can I ask you something?"

Nya tilted her head curiously, "What is it Jay?"

"Well I was wondering…" He scratched the back of his neck, "I was wondering if you and I could have a nice dinner later this evening." He blushed at the end of his sentence and gazed at her, hoping she would say yes.

Nya's cheeks turned pink. In that moment, she could jump so high out of bliss if Jay wasn't in front of her. She didn't want to act weird on him and she was actually waiting for him to ask her out, maybe because working too much in the bounty gave her some boredom as well.

She tucked her hair behind her ear, "Sure Jay. That would be nice."

Jay beamed and did a fist pump, "Yes!" His eyes went wide and suddenly paused, realizing Nya was still there. Way to go Jay…

"I—I mean…" Jay stuttered, getting back to his normal composure, "So…pick you up at six?"

Nya kissed Jay on the cheek, "Yeah sure, six it is." Frozen, Jay blushed at her sweet gesture and sighed in contentment.

"Oh. Hey Kai." Nya greeted Kai, who was just behind Jay, leaning against the wall fully clothed. After that, Nya left Jay and went inside the ship, leaving poor Jay with her hotheaded brother.

Jay stiffened, gulped, and turned around slowly. His world shattered to pieces when he saw Kai looking at him with intense fury.

He swallowed, "H—Hey…Kai…How ya been, buddy? Hehehe…" Not a single word, Kai lunged at Jay, making them selves collapsed to the floor as he twisted Jay's right arm behind his back.

"Ow! Ok! Ok! I'm sorry!" Jay begged, struggling to escape Kai's grip, "Can't we just leave this all behind us? With that response, Kai only made his grasp tighter.

"Not unless you say you're a wimp!" Kai challenged.

"What?! No way!" Jay protested, squirming.

Kai shrugged his shoulders, "Suit yourself…" With that, he grabbed Jay's shoulder and lifted him up high then went by the balcony, planning to toss him off board to a nearby garbage dump.

Had no choice, Jay gave up because he would prefer to be a wimp than smelling like garbage, especially when he has a date with Nya.

"Alright! Alright! I'm a wimp! I'm a wimp! Now put me down!" Jay pleaded.

"Ok." Kai stopped as soon as he heard that, but unfortunately, he halted where the spot he could still throw Jay to the dumpster, which he did in eventually…

Jay was tossed into the dumpster and made a splash with garbage filth all over him.

"Augh! Grosse!" He shook his arm, removing the soaked filth all over his sleeves, and then looked at Kai, who seemed to have a bright smile on his face.

"Thanks a lot, KAI!" He yelled, irritated.

Kai waved, "You're welcome!" Then, he whistled his way inside the ship.

* * *

There was a long day ahead of them to use their time spending whatever they had already planned out. Four thirty in the afternoon, the boys managed to buy their tickets for the truck rally later this afternoon without being spotted by reporters and fan girls…thanks to their hooded jackets and shades. Inside the arena, a huge jumbo screen hung on the center of the arena, showing some faces from the audience. Hundreds of people came to see the truck rally, all chanting and screaming their favorite truck icons. Lights flashed around the arena. The roaring engine spread across the entire stage, making the audience yell to their amusement. Flames were ignited through the monster truck's huge multiple mufflers.

"This is going to be so cool! Glad we have the best seats!" Cole proclaimed.

Jay took a bite of his hotdog, "The best part is no one even suspects us." He waved his arm away from his chest, "Not a single thing!"

Kai was squimished by the way Jay talk with his mouth full, especially the hotdog he just chewed. "Dude, you could've at least swallowed your food before you talk." Jay looked at Kai and raised his left eyebrow as an idea occurred in his mind. He took another bite of his food with a bigger amount, and then spoke, chewing, "What…was…that Kai? You want…me to…swallow my food…first?"

Kai quickly looked away, and pushed Jay away from him, while Jay just laughed at his enjoyment. Cole got irritated by their childish bickering.

"Hey! Will you two shut up?!" He declared, "If you two keep acting like a bunch of kids, lots of people will start staring at us and we don't want another more attention now, do we?"

Kai and Jay nodded in shame, "No…"

"Then you better shut it!" Cole said loudly.

Zane nodded, holding his popcorn, "I agree."

Kai and Jay exchanged glances at each other then hastily looked away, arms crossed.

After the long wait, the announcer of the event finally spoke. His voice spread out the entire arena.

_"Are you ready to see some wicked truck crashing, slamming, smashing, and burning grand show?!" _All the audience chanted back "_Yes!" _Including Cole and Kai, who were more excited to see the monster trucks.

**_"THEEEEEEEEEEN! HERE THEY COME!" _**

Four iron gates slowly opened at each corner. Pairs of headlight suddenly flashed bright. Engines roared loudly across the arena, boasting at the other trucks. Then the moment of the main show appeared, where colossal trucks came out from the iron gates. The audience yelled and wowed of the truck's features. The first vehicle had red and orange color on the main body with flames printed on the sides along with its bumper stickers. Its monstrous wheels and mufflers were mostly impressed the crowd. The second monster truck had a greyish color with spikes on the roof and the wheels as well. The third truck had black and green checkered all over the body, with red flags near the head lights. And last, a black trucks with red horns on the roof, fire ignited from its ridiculous sized mufflers, even its mufflers had mufflers all connected to one another.

_**"Let the crashing, slamming, smashing begins!"** _

On the very center of the arena, there were almost more than 50 cars all aligned for the monster trucks to run over and 20 hoops engulfed in flames aligned horizontally. The four vehicles began driving to their spot, where they were going to start their routine. While waiting for the trucks to do their stuff, Jay had the opportunity when he noticed Kai wasn't paying much attention to his drink, almost tilting to his jacket to spill. He smirked at the thought of getting even with Kai again, and only because he tossed him to the dumpster.

The idea was Jay would pretend to bump Kai by the arm to make his drink spill to his delicate red jacket. He all needed some sort of distraction so that Kai would not noticed him he was doing it on purpose. He gazed down on the floor, looking some sort of subject…and then he saw a penny lying on the ground. He gave Kai one last evil look.

He said, "Oh look…a penny! Better go get it, don't want to get it waste!" He bends down to pick it up, at the same time his elbow bumped to Kai's arm, where he was holding his soda. Unfortunately, by the time Jay hit his arm, Kai was about to drink his beverage and was tilted to the other side, spilling Zane's white jacket. Startled, Zane jumped off from his seat as along his hood fell down, exposing his head. Kai, Jay, and Cole saw him and were alarmed as well.

Cole quickly responded, "Psst! Zane wear your hood back on before somebody sees—! " Before Cole could even finish his sentence, two children behind their seats were playing with their sling shots using candies as ammos. One of them accidentally knocked Zane's sun glasses.

Next, they heard a woman gasped when they saw his face then squealed louder than the roaring engines from the trucks. It was the girl who wore the pink blouse…and she was not alone…

The girl with the pink blouse bellowed, "IT'S ZAAAAAAANE!" Some of the females among the crowd stood up.

**_"Zane! Where?!"_**

**_"Where are the ninjas?!"_**

**_"Is Kai with them?!"_**

**_"Zaaane! We love you!"_**

Just then, a spot light went directly to Zane as he covered his eyes from the light. The worst part was his face was featured on the jumbo screen, revealing him to the entire crowd!

**_"Well wha da' ya know! The ninja is here for the show!"_**The announcer said to the whole audience. Then three more spot lights spotted on Cole, Kai, and Jay with their faces on the jumbo screen. The announcer was even more surprised, _"folk, looks like we have our heroes for the truck rally show!" _

The whole crowd was in silence, staring at the ninjas either on the screen or from their seats, and then suddenly they cheered and clapped for them. Jay's plan did not go well as he quite expected it…

Once more, Cole smacked his hand to his face, dragging down to his chin. And then followed that familiar sound…

Two vans with a satellite on the roof came out from the iron gates, where the truck exited. The wheels screeched to a stop. Doors were slammed open, and came out few camera men and news reporters from Ninjago News Cast.

**_"Look! There they are!" _**Amy Lin yelled, pointing her finger to the ninjas.

Jay frowned, "Not them again…"

Spot lights on them, crowd cheering for them, and fan girls squealing their names, the ninjas just froze to death. Cole sat still with the look that seemed tired. The urge to strangle his brothers for ruining such perfect event that didn't even start yet and they have already been found what they were avoiding.

Cole crushed his soda can in his grip as the soda burst out, "I swear…I am going to strangle the three of you when we get to the bounty…"

"The question is…how did I get involve in this?" Zane implied. He pointed his hand to Kai, "It's his fault his drink spilled on to me."

Kai's eyes went wide, receiving the blame, "What the?!" He stood up, pointing his hand to Jay, "It's his fault why my soda spilled Zane!"

Shocked, Jay jumped off from his seat, looking at Cole, "Me?!" He gestured his hands to both Kai and Zane, but left his mouth agape. He realized he has nothing to give an excuse, since he was truly the one who started it. He didn't want the three to know he caused it and he didn't want to get suspicious by the others either. Jay thought numerous excuses, but how could he when his three friends staring down at him, the noise distracted his train of thoughts, and his date later with Nya.

His eyes began to glance everywhere, signing nervousness. His sweat streamed down from his face, until he broke down, "It's Kai's fault for throwing me to the dumpster—!" Jay quickly covered his mouth after he mentioned that. The cat is out of the bag!

Kai was taken aback. "I knew it! You did that on purpose." He said furiously. He clutched Jay's by the collar and his fist pulled back, ready to punch him.

Kai and Jay's chat did not last long as when the reporters were gaining close to them, while their fan girls rushed down to take pictures of them up close…or were they?

Zane looked both sides, seeing it wasn't a good thing, especially when time was at the essence.

"Look! We'll settle this later. Right now, we need to get out of here fast!" Zane commanded.

Jay panicked, "What operation should we use, Cole?! Operation two point five, operation three point zero, operation—!"

"What about **_Operation: Run!_**_" _Kai declared.

With that, the four ninjas climbed over the fence in front of them, barricading from the arena to the audience then landed on the other side, where the monster trucks drove. They ran as fast as they could at the same time searching for an exit.

Cole looked back to see if the reporters and fan girls were still chasing them after climbing a high wired fence…

Surprisingly, most of the reporters climbed up like an insect crawling up against the wall. The girls somehow used teamwork to get to the other side.

"Can't we just spinjitzu out of here?!" Cole suggested, running.

"We can't! We might hurt some civilians in here!" Kai replied. He turned his look to Zane, hoping he has some answers, "Zane, does your computer says anything?"

"Actually I have." He answered.

Zane quickly stopped and grabbed something out of his pocket .Cole, Jay, and Kai halted, watching Zane accurately managing his plan. It turned out he took out his golden hilt, then instantly an icy blade arose from its golden handle. It was his elemental sword of ice. He thrusts his sword down to the ground as ice appeared racing its way horizontally across the arena. Zane's plan was to create a wall of ice to block the reporters from chasing them, giving him and his friends to get time to find an escape. The reporters were flabbergasted. They didn't quite expect from a sudden presence of an ice wall, barricading them. The young ladies did the same reaction as usual whenever they lost sight of the ninjas. Few even awed sadly and some cried.

"Sorry ladies…" Zane apologized sympathetically. To think their problem would solve that easily. Cole saw more other Medias running from the outer arena, but saw an opportunity as so. He noticed there was grey door almost well hidden beside the first Iron Gate.

"Guys, there's an exit over there. Let's go!" Cole commanded, running towards the exit. The three followed Cole's order. When they managed to reach the exit, Jay kicked the door open.

Soon, they all exited at the back of the establishment.

Kai panted, "Guys…this…is really getting old…" He held his breath then released, "I can't run forever from…these stupid reporters…"

Cole was still panting from the wild chase, but slowly returning to his normal breathing.

"At least it's over…right? He said, looking to Jay, who was still exhausted. Jay was about to answer yet his mouth left agape again when he heard something as if someone was drilling.

"Do you hear something?" Jay asked, glancing around to look for the source. The three paid attention to the sound.

"I hear it too…" Zane replied.

The concrete ground just below their feet began to rise forming a hole. Minutes or so, the hole became bigger until a drill popped out from the cement. The drill stopped as smokes of dusts spread around the area. When the dusts cleared out, the four were shocked to see Amy Lin, the news reporters including her camera men, wearing those yellow workers' helmet. Without warning, they heard another noise coming from the other side of the building. Soon, the noise turned out to be screams…screaming fans. The ninjas assumed it was the girls that must have found another way out.

"OH C'MON! YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" Cole shouted out of frustration.

"Man! These people never quit!" Jay cried.

Zane scratched the back of his head, looking confused, "Where did they even get the drill?"

Amy Lin raised her microphone to Cole, **_"So tell me how feel being the most popular heroes of Ninjago and now being chased by your fans? Did you enjoy it? Did love it?"_**

"No comments on that one…" Cole responded. As their fans were getting closer, this was not a good sign. They could not stay any longer. He looked back to his friends, who seemed to see what he saw, "Let's go guys!"

The three nodded and then ran away, leaving the reporter burrowed in the hole.

**"_Hey! You didn't even answer my questions!"_**_ Amy Lin yelled._

Once again, they were running…running…and running again. They began to think that they regretted leaving the bounty, when they could have just stayed at home without being chased around all day or they could have just done their duties. The ninjas saw an alley nearby and took a turn to it.

"This sucks! I didn't know being popular could be this annoying!" Jay complained. He looked at his watch, checked the time, and indicated it was almost six in the afternoon, "Oh man! I need to get home. I promised Nya I would pick her up at six!"

"First things first…we need to shake them off our tail!" Kai said, "But how..?"

Zane saw a light at the end of the alley. The minute they got out from the alley, the light he saw came from a clothing store. Behind the huge bay window, were four male model manikins with different poses. That moment, Zane had the perfect idea.

"I think I have the solution for that." He answered, smiling.

After one minute…

The girls arrived by the time the boys disappeared.

**_"Where are they?"_**

**_"I just saw them went to this alley…"_**

**_"Are you sure this is the right direction?"_**

**_"Maybe they ran further across the street?"_**

**_"Let's keep looking!"_**

As the girls left the store front, meanwhile, behind the bay window, the ninjas were actually hiding inside, mimicking the manikins of each different poses. Cole stood with his head turned to the left and both hands jammed in his pockets. Kai leaned side on his shoulder, arms crossed over his chest, looking tough. Jay leaned on his back against the wall, hands on his back, and his left leg crossed to the other. Zane stood formally with his head turned to the right and his left hand holding a coat, hung on his left shoulder. They're eyes were closed the whole time, so that the girls could not identify them easily.

"Are they gone now?" Kai whispered, still maintaining his pose. Zane opened his left eye, peeking outside the window. As a nindroid, he scanned every area outside, just in case someone was hiding behind the trees or bins. The result was…none.

"It is safe now…" Zane replied. Moments after, the boys finally came out the store.

Jay wiped his forehead, "Whew! That was a cl—!"

"Augh! Please save that last word when we're home!" Cole demanded, irritated.

Jay glanced at his watch again, only to see the time he has left before he could pick Nya. He has five minutes left…

Jay's eyes went wide, "Oh no! I only have five minutes left! We have to hurry!"

"You mean…_you_ need to hurry. We ain't running again…" Kai protested. He looked to the left, thinking about their distance to the bounty from were they are standing, "I'm sure the bounty is not that far from here." He looked back to Jay, who was already gone in an instant.

"Where's Jay?" he asked.

"He already left ahead of us. I guess he didn't want his punctuality get ruined." Zane answered smartly.

Cole took a deep breath and sighed with exhaustion, "Come on…let's go home. I have this day enough…" Thus, the three began to walk their way home.

In the intervening time, Nya was already waiting by the deck for Jay. She wore her beautiful red jasmine dress along with matching leggings. She stood there for about almost half an hour, excited to have her date with Jay. Though she was quite puzzled about Jay's presence, she thought he would arrive a bit earlier as his punctuality does. Nye felt tempted to look at the time, although she didn't want to question Jay's timing, but all that waiting made her a little irritated. Just then, before she could dare look at the time, Jay suddenly presented himself in the nick of time!

"Hey Nya!" Jay greeted with his hands behind, hiding something. Nya almost fell back from his sudden appearance, but gladly she caught up on her feet.

"Jay! You're…." She gazed back at her watch then smiled, "Exactly on time."

Jay however, may be exactly on time…but deep down, all that running made him still breathing heavily. He was just trying to keep his composure, not letting Nya know that he was going to be late.

He said, "You know me, Nya…I'm always punctual for you and…oh!" He gave her a bouquet of flowers and then kissed her on the lips. He bought it for her while he was on his way to the bounty. Nya was utterly surprised as she took the flowers and smelled its sweet scent.

"Awww…Jay, this is so sweet of you." She said, blushing. Jay moved in front of her, stretching out his elbow, "Shall we then?" Nya gave him that sweet warm smile and hooked her arm to his. Jay and Nya began walking down the ship to a special place where Jay intended to surprise her more.

While taking their stroll, they saw Cole, Zane, and Kai coming at their direction, looking tired.

"Oh hey guys!" Nya greeted, "Wow…You look tired."

"No kidding sis…" Kai replied. Kai would have tell her his sarcastic speeches, but he was too tired to do it. Jay felt insecure when he saw the three, because they might tell Nya what exactly happened to them and the part where he rushed just to get on time.

"We were being ch—!" before Zane could finish his sentence, Jay barged in to the conversation. He clamped his hands loudly over his chest, "WELL! We would like to stay in chat with you guys…but Nya and I have other things to attend to." He gently pushed Nya away from the three.

"Oh! Aaah...see you later guys!" she looked at Jay confused, "What was that all about?"

He chuckled, "Oh that was probably nothing…Nothing to be a big deal of!"

Meanwhile, the three boys stood just as confused as Nya.

"What was that all about?" Kai questioned, rubbing the back of his neck. Cole thought of a hasty idea, "Hey, wanna ruin Jay's date?"

Kai frowned and shook his head slowly, "Nah…I don't want to ruin my sister's date…"

The three started walking to the bounty. Sensei Wu came out from the ship.

"So my fellow ninjas how was your…"

**"Don't ask…"** the three said in unison, walking inside the ship. Their sensei was left blanked.

* * *

Evening came upon Ninjago, the moon shined at its finest and it was a clear night. Across four blocks from the main streets, there was a place called china town, where lavishing restaurants were held and with its professional chefs. Jay and Nya arrived at the scene, and were amazed by the ambiance around them. But the most interesting part about the place was the dishes of all kinds, displayed on the long tables. Its scent flew across their noses, making them crave for the taste. The lovers sat near a huge oval shaped window, where the moonlight hits them.

"This place is so beautiful!" Nya complimented.

Jay glanced around, appreciating the authenticity of the restaurant, "Yeah…this place is really something!" He looked back at Nya, who was looking back at him with her smile that he loved so much. He gazed dazedly at her and let out a soft sigh.

Nya chuckled, "What are you looking at?"

Jay, still trance at her beauty, quickly shook to his senses.

"I'm…I'm looking at you of course…" he said, "You're just so pretty…"

Nya's cheeks flushed into pink, "Oh stop it Jay…you're gonna make me blush all night."

Jay smirked, "What? You look prettier when you blush like that." Blushed twice, Nya couldn't resist that ticklish feeling whenever Jay complimented her like that. Jay stared at her long as he could until he took a glimpse behind Nya, entering the restaurant. His eyes went wider than usual when he saw a familiar face…no faces rather… who just came in the restaurant.

_"It's those fan girls!" _Jay thought, panicked_._

Nya looked concern when she noticed Jay's expression. She also noticed he was looking something behind her, therefore she intended to look back whatever Jay caught his attention.

But before she could, with Jay's quick thinking, he grabbed the menu right in front of him, covering his face and pretending to look over the menu, then spoke loudly enough to get Nya's attention, "So! What are you going to order, Nya?"

Startled, Nya turned to Jay, "Oh! Uhmm…well…" She took the other menu in front of her, skimming over the menu. While she was looking at the menu, Jay peeked behind his, hoping those fan girls would leave. He could not afford to get caught again, especially not with Nya.

There were three fan girls standing by the entrance. They seemed to look around the restaurant, finding a spot to sit.

"C'mon! C'mon! Leave already." He muttered.

"Jay…" Nya called worriedly. Little what Jay didn't know was that she was looking at him the whole time. Jay instantly turned to her.

"It's those fan girls, isn't it? You've been chased again…is that what Zane was going to say?" She said sadly.

The only thing what Jay hated the most…was to see her frown. Worst, she might be thinking a whole different perspective about him being chased by other girls.

"No…well…sort of…" He released a sigh of defeat, "Yes…But! It's not what you think!"

She looked down gloomily, "It's ok…I guess that what happens when you guys are busy saving the world and got popular that…you forgot about someone you care about…"

Jay's heart were crushed by her words, he didn't quite expect she would think about him like that. He grabbed Nya's hands, "No! No! No! It's not like that at all! I may be chased by other girls but…" He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, gathering all that strength for what he was about to do next, kissing her in public. And yes…he didn't care if people saw them, including the fan girls. He engaged his lips to hers, savoring that sweet sensation. Nya slowly closed her eyes in pleasure. It was so long they haven't kiss like that…

Then, Jay pulled back, gazing at her eyes, "But you're the only one I really…really love."

Nya frown shifted into a smile then wrapped her arms around him. Jay hugged her back while he looked for the three girls, who were already gone. He smiled at that moment, knowing nothing could ruin his evening. After a minute, they pulled back.

"Sooo…what are you going to eat? I'm starving." Jay asked.

Nya giggled and took the menu, "I guess I could have the…"

Abruptly, a loud woman scream was heard outside the restaurant. All the people inside craned their necks to the sound.

Alarmed, Nya stood up from her seat, "What was that?!" Few people stood up then rushed outside the building, wanting to know what happened.

"Come on, Jay! Let's check it out." Nya ran ahead towards the exit. Jay on the other hand, sighed tiredly, thinking he could have sworn himself nothing can ruin their date, except one thing…emergency protocols. And not to mention he have always wanted to taste the food in the restaurant he picked. Jay managed to go after her, "Wait up, Nya!"

Outside of China Town, crowds of people had gathered at the center, whispering and gossiping about the event.

Jay saw Nya standing behind the crowds. "Nya!" he called loudly. She turned around, "There you are Jay…I was wondering where you were." She grabbed Jay's hand then pushed themselves through the crowd, "Come on!"

When they made it out the crowd, they saw a poor woman, lying on the floor, holding her left shoulder. It seemed she was hurt.

"Are you alright? What happened here?" Nya asked, approaching the woman. Jay lends her a hand to stand up.

"It was horrible!" she began, standing up, "Some thieves shoved me and stole my bracelet after they entered that jewelry shop." She pointed her finger to the shop she was referring. Apparently it was not very far from where they stood. Nya nodded to the woman, Thanks for the information."

Jay and Nya immediately entered the jewelry store called _Lapis. _The store's windows were shattered to pieces and all the jewelries were stolen, not a single one was left. Inside the store, an old lady, the store owner, was weeping while her co-workers were comforting her.

The old lady cried, "THEY STOLE EVERYTHING! NOW MY BUSINESS IS RUINED!"

"Can you tell us what you saw? I mean, what do they look like?" Jay suggested. The store owner didn't hesitate. She looked up to Jay, "I didn't see them because we were at the back of the store…when suddenly we heard glasses shattering. Then when we got here…all my precious jewels were gone!" She sobbed again, covering her face with her hands.

"Do you have some sort of surveillance camera in you store?" Nya questioned, hoping it would be a lot easier for this case. But the store keeper shook her head.

Nya looked at Jay, disappointed, "Well that helps…"

Just then, Jay saw a shadow outside the store, moving towards a dark alleyway.

"Stay right here, Nya." Jay said, clutching her shoulders. Next, he left the shop, following the mysterious shadow.

"Where are you going?" Nya asked, but Jay had already left. As he got out, the alleyway was just behind the crowds. He pushed himself through, "Excuse me...pardon me! Out of my way!"

Once exited, he aimed to the alley when he saw the shadow again.

For some reason, he noticed the shadow had a tail that almost slithered towards the darkness…

Jay wasn't sure if he was correct whether it was the serpentine or not, but the only way to find out was to go there. He brought out his golden hilt, and then came a spark of electricity as the blade arose from the hilt.

It was his elemental blade of lightning. He held the sword tightly in his grasp as he hid himself behind the wall. He took a deep breath, getting ready to strike. And then, he jumped behind the wall with his sword thrust forward. However, there was nobody there but an empty alley…

"Huh?" He ventured further to the dark alley, searching that mysterious shadow. After three minutes, there wasn't really there anymore. Though Jay found it empty, he still couldn't shake the feeling that he did saw something and just mysteriously vanished.

Deep below the sewers…the shadows continuously moved through the murky water until it finally revealed itself by the end of the passages.

"What took you ssssso long, Acidicussss?" Skales asked, holding the book, "Did you ssssee what I told you to sssee?!"

"I sssaw one of the ninjasss…he almost caught me but I manage to ssstay hidden." Acidicus replied.

"It looksss like the ninjasss are ssstill running the city…" Skales assumed.

Fangtom slithered towards Skales, "I do not understand the plan Skalessss…What are we suppossse to do with these gemssss?" He gestured his arm towards a pile of jewelries.

It was the missing jewelries that were stolen back at the jewelry store in china town.

Skales grew headache from explaining his diabolic scheme again and again. He massaged the top of his head, "How many timesss do I have to explain this to you…it'ssss really sssimple. Look, all the jewelriesss has ssstones in them, right?" The snake generals nodded their head.

He continued, "Once we have ssstolen all the gemssss…We are going to compare it to the gemsss in the book, until we get the same stonesss. Then we are going to give it to that worthlesssss creature and give us back our freedom."

After Skales said that, his collar went suddenly activated then zaps him again. The book he held was dropped to the ground as the pages scattered all over. Skalidor was the closest to pick it all up. When he did, he noticed one page that might interest Skales.

"You better come sssee this…" he said. Skales went to him and swiped the paper out of his hands, "Give me that you fool!"

He read each scripture written on that specific page and saw an illustration of a special gem…He did not pay attention on what the pendant looked like, but what was written about it.

"It saysss here…we need to find this ssstone in order for usss to find the four gemssss of the underworld." Skales proclaimed. He thought about the new information to his old plan and the ninjas as well, thinking of a way his plan could work better. He grinned deceitfully, "It seemsss I have a better idea!" He laughed menacingly.

* * *

**Chapter Four: The Gems of the Underworld**

Saturday morning, Zane was in the kitchen wearing a pink apron. Usually he would get laughed at by his three friends, but since then, they got use to him wearing it. He was cooking and flipping some pancakes for breakfast. Kai, Jay, and Cole came into the kitchen still wearing their pajamas.

Kai yawned, "What's cooking, Zane?"

"Flapjacks, bacons, and eggs." Zane answered, overturning the eggs. Cole went by the fridge to get the milk and glasses by the cupboards. Jay sat by the table, rubbing his right eye, "You'll never guess what happened to me and Nya last night…"

"What? You guys broken up?" Kai said sarcastically.

Jay was startled by his answer, "Wait…what?! No! Last night, when me and Nya went to the restaurant, which we didn't even try the food in there because some thieves broke into a jewelry shop and me and Nya went to check it out but by the time we got there everything was stolen, and then I saw a shadow that went to the alley but when I got there it just disappeared!"

"That's strange…We watched the news last night, and there was another robbery in a different jewelry store..." Zane stated, setting the food on the table.

Cole sat next to Jay, putting the glass cups on the table, "Yeah…the store owners didn't see what the thieves look like. I wonder what's up with this stealing of jewels." He poured the milk in each glass.

Jay drunk his milk, "Do you think it has something to do with those snakes?"

Kai yawned again, "If so…I miss beating those snake breaths!" He looked back to Zane, who was still busy cooking, "Hey bro, can u pass me the syrup?"

Unexpectedly, Zane rotated his head 180 degrees to Kai, "Which one…Maple or chocolate?" Freaked out, Kai, Jay, and Cole bolted their eyes open! Jay regurgitated the milk he was drinking. Cole sucked the bacon down to his throat then choked. Kai was splashed by Jay's regurgitated drink. Zane, who had just turned his head to normal, was confused why they reacted like that after he swiveled his head 180 degrees.

Was it probably because he didn't turn his humor switch? Or was it because it was normal for them to act that way? Zane may be the smartest of them all, but he still needs to learn other human reactions as humanly as possible.

Cole pounded his chest real hard, making the bacon he choked come up, when it did he spits it out, landing it on Jay's face.

Cole panted, "Don't…ever…do…that…again!"

Zane tilted his head in puzzlement, "Do what my brothers? Like this…" He began turning his head again, but before he could do 180 degrees turn, the three quickly lunged at him and said in unison, "DON'T!"

Afterwards, the boys managed to finish their breakfast and…clean the mess. They wore their fighting kimonos then went to the bridge, looking for Sensei Wu for whatever tasks he might give to the ninjas. Sensei Wu was indeed inside the bridge, meditating. Falcon, Zane feathered friend, was on top of his staff. He felt the presence of his ninjas walking inside the room.

"Good morning, my ninjas." He greeted.

The four bowed in their tradition way to their master, "Good morning, Sensei."

"So…Sensei, what do want us to do today?" Cole asked.

"I can see you are ready for the tasks ahead of you." He answered, standing up from his meditation. Falcon flew towards to his master as Zane stretched out his arm for the bird to land.

Sensei Wu added, "There hasn't been any recent threat this morning…so I suggest you ninjas to be prepared at any cause and any threat. For the meantime…you have to wait here while I 'm going to have my tea. Come along teabot." Dr. Julien's invention followed Sensei Wu as they both walked out the bridge.

Zane called out before his master exited, "Sensei, have you seen my father?" He noticed his father wasn't in the ship while he was on his way to the bridge.

"And Nya too…" Kai added.

Sensei Wu thought for awhile and replied, "They went to the hardware store to buy some parts for engine. Your father told me the bounty will be ready anytime soon…"

Jay beamed, "You mean the bounty will be airborne again?" He fist pumped, "Sweet!"

"If and only if they bought the right parts then it will be airborne." Sensei Wu finally exited.

Cole folded his arms across his chest, "You mean we have to wait in here? I hate waiting!"

"Perhaps we could do some sparring while we wait here in the ship." Zane suggested.

"Sparring is good." Jay agreed, nodding.

Kai shrugged his shoulders, "Well if it's anything to kill the time, eh why not?" And so, then ninjas went out then proceeded to the training area to spar.

For the meantime, Dr. Julien and Nya just got out from the hardware store, carrying loads of small parts for the engine. They had hoped that one of those parts would be enough to fix the machine. But before they could start on the engine, they planned to change the blimp into a new sail. `

Dr. Julien took one part out, examining it, "I hope the metal in these parts is enough to handle the heat once the engine starts running."

"I'm sure this part will do." Nya said, "We'll just have to…" All of a sudden, an alarm rang loudly just across the street followed by a curdling scream.

"What is it this time?" Nya asked, puzzled. She gave the bag of new parts to Dr. Julien, "Here, call the ninjas. I'll see what is going on in there…" With that, Nya ran towards the source.

"Wait! Nya! It's too dangerous out there!" Dr. Julien warned, reaching out his hand to Nya. But she ignored his response and kept running ahead. Dr. Julien began searching around a nearby phone booth where he could contact the others for help. Not far from he stood, he saw one and smiled at the opportunity. In the Destiny's Bounty, the boys were highly focused in their sparring. Cole was sparring against Zane. Jay was practicing his defense by dodging few attacks from the training equipment called, _Wing Tsun. _

Kai stood still far from the dummy. He imagined the dummy was one of the stone army, just to feel that energy to hit his opponent. He shifted his position into a striking pose then bends his knees and jumped high. He did a flip in midair and landed his feet against the dummy's torso, making it crashed to the floor. It was a technique he referred as the soaring eagle kick. After that, the phone rang from the bridge. The three heard it and paused their training.

"I'll get it." Kai volunteered, walking towards the ringing phone.

As he picked up the phone, "Hello, Kai's speaking…"

"Kai!" Dr. Julien said from the other line, who sounded terribly worried.

Kai wasn't sure of the voice until he realized it was Zane's dad, "Dr. Julien? What's wrong?"

"There's a robbery nearby the hardware store and your sister went there to check it out! You better be here quick!" He declared.

Kai was alarmed and worried at the same time about his sister was near the danger. _"Why does she have to be the curious one?" _ He thought.

"Alright, we'll be on our way!" Kai placed the phone down.

"Who was that, Kai?" Zane asked, entering the room.

Kai turned around, seeing Zane and the two arrived, "That was your dad and there's a robbery near the hardware store."

"Another robbery? Man! What's up with this stealing and stuff?" Jay complained.

"Let us go there immediately!" Zane announced confidently.

"I like the way Zane thinks!" Kai asserted.

Cole grinned, excited about the job, "Alright! Time for some action!" The ninjas wore their hoods on and ran outside the ship, heading towards the heart of the problem.

By the time Nya got close to the building, where it was being robbed. She noticed it was another jewelry store, and again, not a single jewelry was left. She began to be suspicious about the robbery of Jewelry stores and what did the culprit want with it. Not a minute after, another alarm was set followed by another then… another then… another simultaneously. On their way, the ninjas heard those loud interconnecting alarms.

"Whoa! I thought there was only a robbery? Not robberies!" Jay joked. Cole listened carefully to the sounds of the alarm, distinguishing what possible location was occurring. He faced his three brothers, "Ok, here is what we're going to do, guys. Kai you go look for your sister.

Jay go check out the south lane. Zane, the north. And me…I'll go to the east. If any one of you finds the culprit…capture it! We'll do some interrogation after. Got it?"

"Got it!" The three answered in unison. With that, the four went their separate ways. Kai's order was to find his sister, which he eventually did when he saw her talking to the store keeper of the stolen gems. "Nya!" He called, approaching her, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Kai." She confirmed. She looked back at the store keeper, "Can you tell us what the thief looks like?"

"Well…there were _huge_! I can tell you that. A—and…they were wearing black masks…but they also have red skins…" He described.

Kai and Nya exchanged glances at each other, confused about the thief having a red skin. What could that mean?

"Is there any chance where they went?" Kai questioned seriously.

The store owner pondered for awhile then struck with an answer, "I know! They went that way towards the Ninjago City's junkyard.

Kai nodded, "Thanks."

He placed his hand over his sister's shoulder, "Nya, I want you to look after these people and see what you can do. I'll go after that lousy thief." Without hesitation, Kai ran to the direction where the store keeper mentioned, the junk yard.

Jay was already at the crime of the scene. It was a small pawnshop with its windows and glass counters broken to pieces. He didn't get the chance to see the culprit, but he did manage to tracks of stolen goods, leading to another alley. Following those tracks, Jay was lead to a dumped alley, but this time he saw the thief, holding some sort of book…He also witnessed that the culprit was wearing a chain around the wrists.

"Hey you there!" He yelled. The thief darted at Jay then it ran away from him.

"Hey! I said…Oh forget it!" Jay went to chase the thief.

Dr. Julien was running his way to the bounty, seeking to escape all from the mad commotion happening in the streets. He took a left turn for a short cut when all of a sudden, he saw someone standing in his way. It was wearing a black mask, but its head was bulbous. He assumed it was one the thieves, judging he was carrying a bag of jewelries.

Dr. Julien slowly backed away, "Oh dear…"

The thief stared down at the bags Dr. Julien was holding. He thought it would be worth it to steal it as well. Then, the thief brought out some sort of axe weapon as he approached him.

An old man like him, could not stand a chance against someone with a lethal weapon. Dr. Julien tripped over a can and fell to the ground. As the thief got closer to him, he hoisted his axe against him, ready to smite him… From nowhere, a mist of ice was blasted behind him, engulfing him with ice. The masked thief froze as it is before he could even harm Dr. Julien.

Dr. Julien was taken aback, but at the same time he was glad because he knew that ice came from.

"Zane!" He called out. Indeed, it was his son, who was now running towards him for his aid.

"Are you alright, father?" Zane asked with concern, pulling his father up to stand.

Dr. Julien smiled, "I'm alright, my son." Zane smiled back, knowing his father was unharmed.

However, Zane sensed his captured culprit already escaped. He looked back and he was right. He saw some chopped ice bits scattered all over the floor. The thief must have chopped the ice while his arms were freely to use the axe, and now running away.

"You better go after him, son." Dr. Julien confirmed, clutching Zane's shoulder.

Zane nodded then went to chase the enemy. Cole was the only one left. He was running after another thief he saw running by the park. He had been chasing him for awhile. The thief kept running away from him.

"Hey buddy! This is getting really frustrating!" Cole complained, frustrated. An opportunity struck into his mind when he saw a closed dumpster on the side coming the thief's way. He smirked at his idea. Cole jumped on the covered dumpster then jumped towards against the wall on the other side and jumped away doing a triple summersault. He landed on his feet perfectly as he intercepted his opponent. When the thief saw him, Cole gave the thief a punch right on his face. He flew to the ground barely unconscious. Cole smirked in satisfaction, walking towards the thief.

"Now…let's see who you really are behind that mask…" He said. Cole grabbed the mask and pulled it away. On that moment, he gasped at the sight before him…revealing one of the Fangpyre tribe.

"YOU!" Cole yelled. Oblivious, the fiendish fangpyre gathered dirt in his hand behind his back and shove the dirt into Cole's eyes.

"AUGH!" Cole winced, wiping the dirt off his eyes. He backed away from the snake, unaware he lost his guard. The fangpyre member quickly stood up and pushed Cole aside then ran to escape. The ninja of earth slowly opened his dried-burned eyes, giving that serpentine a stern look as he groaned furiously, "You'll pay for that…"

The ninja of fire was at his best chasing the thief towards the junkyard. So far, he hasn't seen any one of them in sight. But, he did manage to see Jay running from his left of the direction.

"Yo Jay!" He called loudly. Jay caught Kai's attention and saw him running at his side, "Kai? What are you doing here?"

"What do you mean _what am I doing here? _I'm chasing after the thief, you dummy!" Kai simpered.

Jay frowned irately, "Hey! Who do you call dummy? I only went here because my thief went this way!" He also noticed Zane came along, running at Kai's right direction, "Oh, hey there Zane!"

Kai turned his gaze to Zane, "I'm guessing you're chasing after the thief as well."

Zane nodded, "Yes I am." The only one, who wasn't with them, was Cole, who just happens to appear in their way coming from the backstreet.

Zane pointed out, "Look, there's Cole!" Heard Zane's voice, Cole swiveled to his left, seeing his team running towards him. Still, there were dusts left in his eyes. Jay was the first one to notice it as the three of them halted.

"What happened to your eyes?!" Jay asked, concerned.

"Forget about my eyes. But I know who exactly who did it! It was those snake breaths! They're the one behind stealing the jewelries." Cole declared, infuriated.

The three were taken aback, knowing the serpentine had return to Ninjago after being hidden for quite a long time.

"I knew it was those snakes!" Jay assumed correctly.

"Well then there's no time to waste! The store keeper told me that one of them went to the junkyard!" Kai affirmed.

Jay was startled when he heard _junkyard_. "Aah…which junkyard exactly?" He asked, hoping it wasn't his parent's junkyard. The last time he remembered, his home was invaded by Fangpyre tribe and turned his parents into snakes.

"The Ninjago City Junkyard." Kai replied, "Where else?"

Relieved, Jay wiped off his sweat on his forehead, "Whew!"

"Maybe the other snakes went there as well." Zane said.

"There's one way to find out…" Cole responded seriously. Therefore, the ninjas ran again, heading to the junkyard, where hopefully they find the serpentine once more and stop of whatever plot they intending to do.

When they got there for about fifteen minutes, everything was what it seemed… a junkyard. There were piled up rusty cars, heap of old electronic devices such as, washing machines, computers, television or any appliances, and at the center of the junkyard was a huge container full of hot boiling oil and a huge truck with it's long neck and a magnet, hanging by the steal thread. Sea gulls were there, swooping over junk by junk, scouring for food. The ninjas ventured further inside, searching for those snakes.

"Alright guys, stay sharp. They could be anywhere." Cole ordered as he brought out his elemental sword of earth. The three did the same then follow Cole's lead. Jay was intrigued by the size of the junkyard compared to his old home. He actually thought talking to his parents soon about moving out in Ninjago City junkyard.

"Wow. Look at the size of this place!" Jay announced loudly.

Irritated, Cole looked back at Jay, "Quiet you big mouth! We don't want to get more attention now, do we?" He glared at the three, "Like last night?"

Kai pulled back, "What?! You think that was still my fault?" He gestured his arms to Jay, "It was Jay who hit me by the arm and spilled my soda to Zane."

Zane shook his head and sighed, "I still do not understand why I'm still involved in this."

All of a sudden, an old computer rolled down from the pile of junk. Stunned, the boys immediately turned around, holding out their swords ready for an attack.

"Get ready guys…" Kai asserted. They waited and waited… until only a rat came out from the broken screen of the computer then scurried away. Calmed, the ninjas let there guard down for awhile. Cole went back to his commando mode. "Let's keep searching."

Thirty minutes later, the ninjas kept looking and searching for the serpentine clan. They have tried looking over the piles of junk, inside the old cars, under the cars, and behind of every heap, but there was none of them in sight. Jay's feet began to ache from all the walking. Kai was starting to doubt the store keeper about the thief going to the junkyard. Zane happened to like the exercise. Cole never gave up of looking for the serpentine. It was also getting boring by the minute.

"Are you sure those snakes even went here? Cu'z my feet are killing me!" Jay protested.

Cole got irritated as ever over Jay's complaining. He slowly shook his head while he rubbed his temples, "Will you ever stop complaining, Jay! We need to look for those snake heads before they strike again. The worst part is we don't even know why they keep stealing jewelries…THAT is why we need to look."

When Cole said that, it made Jay feel as if he was smacked by a book. "I hate it when you make sense…" he muttered under his breath.

"I heard that!" Cole exclaimed.

Kai was bored out of his mind. Besides searching was everything they do, he thought of some ways to entertain themselves. He figured he could get even again with Jay about the time he made him spilled his soda. And yes, he was quite stoked about that even today.

He smirked, "Sooo…" He began, walking closer to Jay, "How was your date with my sister, Jay?"

Jay stiffened. He didn't expect that from Nya's brother to ask him regarding their date and not to mention he felt uncomfortable, mostly nervous, talking about that kind of article with his friends.

He gulped nervously, "Uhmmm….well…"

Cole however, was intrigued by Kai's question, especially knowing the fact he knew Jay would feel tense when the subject is about Nya. And with this way, it would help him to ease his mind about Jay's complaining. He decided to play along.

He wrapped his arm around Jay's shoulder, walking along side with him then looked at him with his eyebrow raised, "Yeah…Jay…how was your date with her?"

The tension grew around Jay. _"This feels awkward…" _He thought.

"Did you two _smooch?" _Cole teased as he clamped his hands together over his chest while doing a kissy face towards Jay. Now that Cole had mentioned it, Jay did kissed Nya last night, which was a spectacular feeling, but of course he didn't want to let Cole know, especially not Kai.

Jay pushed Cole away, "Knock it off, Cole! It's none of your bizz…"

"What about me? I'm her brother. Don't you think I should know what happened?" Kai joked, almost laughing. Jay was utterly silence. He even tried not to blush how embarrassing the situation he was in. Cole and Kai began laughing how Jay looked like.

Zane, being the serious one, spoke, "May I remind you that we are looking for the serpentine while you three are busy playing around like children."

Kai laughed, "Oh c'mon, Zane…It's alright to have fun for awhile. It's not like you can understand what we're talking about."

Zane suddenly paused his walking. He felt something in his mechanical system that could not accept…he felt insulted.

"What do you mean _something I could not understand?_" he asked with his voice ever so rigid.

Kai, Jay, and Cole stopped as well, and were startled by the way Zane asked.

"Y—You know…" Kai stuttered, scratching the back of his head, "Those…those…" He thought of some words he could muster to explain, but had a hard time explaining what he was trying to meant, until Cole helped out. "Those love stuff…you know like two people when they…they…" He looked at Jay, hoping he would be the one to finish the sentence. Jay knew what Cole meant. "When they're in…love" He said finally.

Zane used his logical analysis, trying to analyze what they were trying to explain, but none of those explanations showed why he felt insulted. He was starting to wonder, was it because a nindroid like him was not programmed to feel that way? Or was it because his brothers see him as a machine…not able to have the capability to understand what humans feel to other humans.

"Are you saying…that I cannot understand that feeling because I'm a nindroid?" Zane replied with a hint of confusion.

"Well…in a way…I mean you're a machine, Zane…and no offense, I don't think you'll ever feel that way" Kai explained, without knowing it was rashly.

"But you're still cool!" Jay added, lightening him up.

"Yeah Zane, you're one of a kind." Cole concurred.

This made Zane confused about himself. Sure, he was a machine, built to be human, but could he ever understand that feeling like what Nya and Jay have? He began to compute it, but nothing came out accurately. Instead, a lot of pounding questions echoed in his mind. He remembered watching those movies about romance with Jay and Nya. He recalled some of the characters saying _"No one can compute love" _If he believed that was true then there was no chance for him to understand it.

Although from all the unawareness while they were busy on their own gimmick…that there was someone watching them. Two pair of reptilian eyes peered through behind the dark area of the junkyard. It revealed its red tail, slithering towards the truck. A two pair of reptilian eyes and red tail could only mean one thing…Fangtom, general of the Fangpyre clan, appeared as he took a bite on the metallic vehicle.

Zane was still left blank about the whole discussion with his three teammates, until he sensed something beyond comprehension.

"Something is not right…" He mentioned. Kai thought he was still puzzled about the _Love stuff_.

"Dude, give it up…we can't talk about it all day…" he said.

Zane felt a slight irritation in him about Kai being not aware of the situation, though he thought he could not blame him because he doesn't have a sixth sense like he does.

"It's not that…it's…" he glanced around to his surrounding, deciphering what triggered his sixth sense when all of a sudden, the entire ground began to shook and a loud machine roared furiously.

Zane looked up, and the truck that was once immobile turned into a moving monstrosity!

"THAT!" He shouted, pointing his hand to it. They quickly turned around, witnessing a familiar trick from the serpentine. The truck was transformed. Its headlights had pair of yellow reptilian eyes. Its wheels grew bigger with its fenders as sharp claws. The old rusty bumper shifted into a mouth with sharp pointed teeth. And Fangtom finally revealed himself coming out behind the monster he created.

"Look! It's that Fangpyre general!" Jay yelled.

"Really? To me it looks like a punching bag ready to beat up!" Kai said, pounding his fists.

Zane noticed there were strange black chains, wrapped around their necks. "What are those chains around their neck?" he asked.

Jay heard what he said and remembered he saw the same collar back at the alley, but only this time the chains were worn around their necks, the last one he saw was wrapped around the wrists.

"It has been a long time since we met ninjasss…" The right-headed fangtom said.

"But unfortunately…we cannot ssstay for long." The left-headed fangtom implied. After that, he slithered away to escape.

"Don't let him get away!" Cole ordered forcefully. For that reason, the ninjas were once again in the run, chasing another serpentine they hate. But out of the blue, more snakes of different tribes appeared before the ninjas could go after the general. The serpentine tribes surrounded the ninjas.

Huddled in the center, the ninjas glared against the snakes.

"I can't believe I'm saying this…but I kinda miss them." Jay admitted. Then, the snakes brought out their weapons, hissing against the ninjas. They slowly began approaching the four.

And without hesitation, the ninjas were in a battle to fight.

"NINJA GOOOOOOO!" They yelled in unison as they spinjitzu their way to battle.

Jay encountered three members from the constrictai and one from hypnobrai, both wielded spears. He hurdled his way like a storm as he ricocheted them, hitting each one of them and disarming their weapons.

Zane faced three constrictai, all running towards him with their blades lifted above their heads. The ninja of ice spun his way around the enemies, creating a floor of ice until the constrictai slipped away towards a pile of heavy scraps. With that strong impact, the mountain of old appliances avalanched it way to the snakes, buried underneath it.

Kai evaded the hypnobrai's sword as it almost slashed his torso. When he had the chance, he grabbed the snake by the wrist, spinjitzu along with it, and then tossed him over the heap of metals. There was one more behind him and was about to lacerate him real deep. With Kai's quick instinct, he swung his elemental sword of fire to him, knocking the hypnobrai's sword out of his hand. Before the snake knew it, Kai had jumped, flipped in midair, and landed his feet directly on the snake's face.

Cole rolled out to the left, dodging the truck's hanging magnet while it swung uncontrollably to and fro. He was aiming at the thread that connects the magnet to the truck. If he cuts it, the truck has nothing to hit against them. But how could he if it kept swinging? An opportunity came in when he noticed the magnet was hurdling its way to him. He bends his knees and stretched his arms out, waiting for the time the magnet to get close so that he could grab the magnet along while it swings to cut the steel thread.

"Come on…Come on…" he grumbled. And then, by the time the magnet got close to Cole, he had successfully caught that huge lodestone and climbed on top of it. He took out his sword ready to cut the thread. But there was a catch…the magnet was heading its way to his three friends.

"Guys! Look out!" he warned loudly. Kai, Jay, and Zane heard Cole's warning. They quickly turned around, seeing a huge flat ironed magnet coming their way. Not only that, the truck itself switched the magnet on. Everything metal inside the junkyard began to shake and sailed away, magnetized by the magnet. The three rolled out in separate direction when the magnet swung over their heads, almost close enough to crush them.

Kai stood up, dusting away the dirt off his clothes, "Good thing we're not made of metal!"

Jay chuckled, "Yeah…that would really…"

All of a sudden, their eyes shut open the minute realization struck them down like lightning. They both looked at each other, thinking the same way.

"ZANE!" They cried out. Indeed, Zane was not around with them anymore. How could they possibly forget Zane was made out entirely of metal? They both looked up and darted at the magnet swinging way high over their heads. And that was where the saw their nindroid brother stuck in a magnet followed by other metals.

"Don't worry buddy! We'll get you out!" Jay announced loudly. On the other hand, Zane kept pulling himself from the magnet, but now matter how hard he struggled, the magnet was too strong.

He sighed, "This is humiliating…"

Startling, the monstrosity began to move towards the behemoth container of hot boiling oil. This wasn't a good sign. The only way to free him was to switch the magnet off from the driver's control seat.

"Hurry and get Zane out!" Cole commanded. Jay raced to the driver's seat, where his only hope to get Zane out. He jumped and hung at the side of the truck until he gets the door open. When he did, he pushed himself in then sat on the chair. His face contorted to confusion when he saw so many unfamiliar buttons and levers in front of him. It was so many he didn't know where to start.

"Ok…Jay…don't panic…you can drive a wrecking ball truck…how hard could it be to use this one?" He supposed lousily. He hover his hands randomly over the buttons and began pressing each one. First attempt, the truck instantly stopped. Second attempt, the truck began to spin aimlessly around and around… In that result, Cole fell off the magnet and crashed over the piles of junk.

Inside the driver's seat, Jay started to feel that truck sickness…He tried pressing another button only to make the truck stop spinning and drove its way faster to the boiling oil, which wasn't Jay's intention in the first place. Kai got inside the truck from the other door. He went inside because things were getting worst by Jay driving the machine.

He pushed Jay to the side, "Dude, why are you taking so long? We need to get Zane out now!"

"I'm trying! But there's too many of them. I don't know which one." Jay replied.

"That's because you keep pressing the wrong ones!" Kai boasted.

The truck had already arrived near the boiling liquid. It was only a matter of time before Zane gets dropped into a pool of boiling hot oil. Kai saw a red square button between two green buttons. He thought it might be the one, since red means stop.

Kai pressed the red square button, "Maybe this one!" Once pressed, they noticed the truck's pulley began slowly dragging the magnet down in to the oil along with Zane, of course. In other words…he made it worst.

Jay smacked Kai at the back of his head, "Way to go captain know it all!"

Gasped, Zane started to wonder about his friends saving him or not as he slowly descends to his doom.

Meanwhile, Cole just got out from the pile of scraps, rubbing his head from the impact. He also witnessed the truck was lowering Zane to his demise.

He clenched his fists, "That's it! I had enough!" He began to run towards the truck's rear end.

Kai and Jay randomly pushed buttons and pulled levers, but nothing seemed to stop the pulley from descending Zane. On the spur of the moment, Kai and Jay were pushed back by a sudden force same goes to the truck.

Jay pulled himself up, "What was that?!"

Kai looked out the window, seeing the ninja of earth with his tremendous strength holding back the vehicle by the rear part. Pulling the truck away, Cole mustered all his strength to save Zane while the monstrosity fought back driving it way forward. Not giving up, Cole kept fighting back.

In the most amazing results, it only led the magnet pull its direction away from the boiling oil, which made Zane lessen his worry. When the magnet was finally out from Zane's doom, Cole moved his head to the side, looking Kai and Jay, "What…are…you…waiting for?!"

Same to them, Kai and Jay had enough. They both searched around the control panel to find the right switch. Then, Kai noticed there was an orange button right above his head. If the other buttons below were neither to switch the magnet off…it has to be the one.

"Here goes nothing!" Kai punched the orange button and miraculously the magnet was finally turned off. Released, Zane fell off along with the other scraps and landed over a torn mattress. It was also Kai and Jay's signal to leave the truck as they did so.

Jay yelled out to Cole, "Ok Cole! Zane's out. You can let go now!"

"Oh I'm letting go alright…" Cole carefully lifted the truck to his chest until he lifted it above his head while the vehicle's wheels spun. The three ninjas were amazed by his capability. He began to breathe repeatedly, gathering his power he needs. Next to that was he tossed the truck towards the pool of boiling liquid, splashing out huge amount of oil around the junkyard.

A task was now done successfully. Zane managed to stand up to his feet again, brushing whatever debris on his white uniform. The rest of his teammates approached him to see if he was beamed and wrapped his arm around Zane's shoulder, "Zane! Glad you're back, buddy!"

Zane smiled back, "I'm glad to be back as well, my brother." He glowered, "Though what took you so long?"

"We have some troubles finding the switch…"Kai responded lousily. Though they may have succeeded their role of rescuing their team member, the serpentine however…had left the site. Cole noticed that and felt upset he didn't get the chance to know what they were up to.

Until… Zane saw something from the distance. It was square, it was brown, it has pages and it almost looked very very old. He walked towards it to get a better view. The three boys were left puzzled why Zane left without knowing them.

"Where are you going Zane?" Cole asked. Zane did not answer but he did manage to get the item and showed it to his friends. Surprised, they saw an unusual looking book. Questions were running through their minds why a book was left in the junkyard.

"That's weird…that book wasn't there when we fought the snakes…" Cole said, getting the book from Zane. He opened the book, seeing the pages were almost torn and not to mention it was all mixed up. When Jay got closer to see the object, he recalled it was the same book he saw back at the alley near the pawnshop.

Jay swiped the book from Cole, "Wait a minute! I've seen this book before…"

Kai raised an eyebrow, "Have you?"

He turned to Kai, "I mean it! I saw it holding by one of the snakes back at the pawnshop alley."

Zane took the book from Jay and slammed it close, "Whatever this book might be…might be the answers we needed about the snake's plot."

Cole nodded in agreement, "Zane is right. We better give this book to Sensei Wu. Maybe he knows what this book is about..."

And so, the four ninjas walked away from the junkyard to the bounty, hoping for an answer from their master of spinjitsu. Several hours later, it was already sunset and it was starting to get dark. In the bridge of the bounty, all of them were gathered staring at the book held by Sensei Wu. The pages of the book were already arranged according to page numbers.

He observed the cover with its strange markings on the edges. He turned the book back, looking for more symbols of the book. He noticed there were different shapes of rocks.

"This is a strange book indeed…" He looked up at the ninjas, "And you have recovered this after you fought the serpentine?"

"Yes Sensei." Zane confirmed.

Sensei Wu let out a breath, "I never knew those snakes would be back in this world…" He carefully opened the book to see the rest of what was written. In the very center of the page, he saw images of certain gems that shook his mind apart, "This…this is…"

"This is…what Sensei Wu" Cole questioned, anticipated hearing the next.

"This is a myth!" Sensei Wu finally finished.

"Gems of the underworld…What is that Sensei Wu?" Kai asked, puzzled. Sensei Wu places the book on the table then rotated in half degrees, so that the ninjas can see what he was pointing out. The four ninjas observed the pictures. They noticed all the gems have different shapes and colors. The first gem was red and shaped like a cylindrical rod. The second gem was violet and has the shape of an eye. The third gem was green and shaped like an octagon. And the last was black, shaped like a diamond.

"The Gems of the Underworld…"Zane read the title. Next, he proceeded to the next description, "It says here that each gems are keys to open a portal." He turned to the next page and Cole read the next, "A portal that will release the creatures of the darkest world…" Cole flipped the page and Jay read after, "A creature unknown to all mankind…that can…"He gulped, frightened when he read the next, "**_Suck the soul_** of the innocence and the guilt who walks in the face of the earth…" He turned to the next page then Kai recited the last, "Whoever opens the portal of the underworld…can control the creatures of the night to his command."

After analyzing about the gems and the rest written in the book, Cole managed to figure it out. He smacked his fist to his palm, "It all makes sense now! No wonder why the snakes were stealing those jewelries, especially the ones with the gems. They were looking those—the same in the book!"

Kai denied, "Whoa…whoa…hold up guys." He looked back to Sensei Wu, "Sensei, you said that these gems are myths. If that's true, don't you think the serpentine are wasting their time stealing jewelries?"

"We don't know that, Kai. One thing horrifying about myths is that it can be true…" He answered. He rose from his seat then crossed his hands behind his back, "And it is up to you to find out."

Jay beamed, "You mean…like a mission!? Finally! Something interesting is about to come up!"

Sensei Wu gave a nod.

"But how are we supposed to find these gems? It will take years to find it." Cole said.

However, Zane spotted a corner of a paper, almost poked out separating from the rest of the pages. He reached it, pulled it out then read what was described. There was a picture of a royal blue stone and shaped like a tear drop or water drop.

"I think I have a solution for that…" he said, reading the paper. Cole, Jay, and Kai huddled close to Zane, looking at the paper he picked. "What is it?" Kai asked.

"In order for us to find the four gems…we need this stone to find it." Zane explained.

Jay's face contorted to confusion, "Wait…what? You need to find that thing in order for us to find the rest? I'm still confused…"

Cole was just as confused as Jay, but at least he had some ideas to start. As the leader, he needed to come with a plan for their new mission.

He suggested, "Well…we could try looking at all the antique stores. They might have some information about it and where we could find it…a—and who knows, they might actually have it."

Kai nodded in affirmation, "Then it's settled. We'll start looking tomorrow morning."

* * *

An hour later, Cole, Jay, and Kai were in their room setting the television and their game box to place. They were planning to play video games since it had been a long time they haven't played. Jay was very eager to beat Kai's high score in Fist to Fist 4. Kai finished connecting the wires and plugged the television on. He gave each controller to Cole and Jay while Zane's was left beside Kai just in case he comes back. Zane was outside by the deck looking for his feathered companion, Falcon. He hasn't seen it since two days ago. He was starting to get worried…

Once the game devices were already set, Kai finally put the game into their precious game box.

"Oh boy! I can't wait to beat you guys!" Jay declared confidently.

Kia waved off, "Oh please! There is no way you can beat on my game!"

Cole smirked, remembering at the memory when Lloyd beat Kai's high score.

"Except Lloyd…" He confessed.

Kai's expression changed to his angry side when Cole mentioned that. "That was the first Fist to Fist game…This is a different game!" He protested. He looked back to Jay, "Jay, turn the game on!"

Jay reached out for the on button as adrenaline rushed through him, excited about beating his friend's score. In one click…nothing happened.

"What the!?" Jay exclaimed. He continuously pressed the button again and again thinking the game box might have only a small malfunction, but it did not work.

"What's wrong with it?" Kai asked, starting to worry about not able to play.

Jay shrugged, "I—I don't know." He grabbed the device and began shaking it as slowly his panic consumed him, "C'mon! Work you stupid thing!"

Cole held Jay's arm, preventing him not to further break the device, "Stop it! Or you'll just make it worst!"

In the particular moment, Nya was walking by when he heard Jay's complains about their game box. But then, she just remembered something… She took a turn to their room and poked her head in, seeing the boys frustrated.

"Uhmmm…Guys what are you doing?" She asked. The three looked at her, caught by her attention. "The stupid game won't work!" Kai replied disappointedly.

"Aaah…about that…" She began, "Dr. Julien sort of…" She did the quote-unquote gesture, "_Borrowed_ some parts from you game box." Cole, Jay, and Kai dropped their jaws, shocked and realized they have no chance of using their game anymore.

Jay snapped, "WHAT?! HE DID WHAT?!" He dropped to his knees like if he was in defeat, "How are we going to play video games now?! And how am I supposed to beat Kai's high score!"

Kai crossed his arms over his chest, "Which is never."

Nya raised an eyebrow, thinking how silly Jay looked like over a broken game device.

"Hey, if it weren't for your game box, the generator wouldn't be fixed and we wouldn't have electricity by now. So deal with it." Then, she left the room.

"Great…" Cole said, "What are we suppose to do now?"

Kai placed his finger under his chin, pondering of some sort of way, "If only we have some sort of back up…" He looked down at Jay, who was still kneeling down, "Jay is there any chance you can fix it?"

Bummed, Jay stood up and spoke sounding with sarcasm, "Oh yeah sure I can fix it! We could get the parts back to the junkyard which is going to take so much time! What's the point!? It's not like we can insert the game to Zane's system and just—!" Suddenly, their eyes bolted right open as an idea occurred to them. They exchanged glances at each other, grinning all the way.

In the meantime, Zane was still waiting for his falcon, looking above the dark sky. Dr. Julien just came out the bridge then saw his son standing outside by the deck. He smiled and walked over to him.

"Zane, what are doing here outside?" he asked. Zane craned his neck to him, "I'm just waiting for Falcon…I haven't seen him since two days ago." He looked down frowning, "I'm starting to worry." Dr. Julien placed his hand over Zane's shoulder then chuckled, "Don't worry my son. I'm sure he's just around… And oh! I almost forgot something."

"What is it?" Zane questioned calmly.

"There is this new book going to be released tomorrow…and I was wondering if you could get it for me." He finally replied, "You know me son, I love to read."

Zane smiled and nodded, "Of course father. But who is the author of that book?"

He took his glasses off and wiped it with his handkerchief, "His name is Greg Farshtey. But you need to wake up extra early tomorrow…" He wore his glasses back on, "That book only has limited stock and a lot of people are dying to have it."

"I'll see to it, father." Zane confirmed. He gazed back at the sky. Besides Falcon and his father's request stored in his mind, he was also thinking that certain topic which he and his friends were talking about back at the junkyard. The topic that Kai made Zane wonder the most.

"It's a beautiful night, isn't it? Dr. Julien said, gazing upon the evening skies.

"Father…"Zane began, "I have a question…" Before Zane could ask his father, they both heard a loud noise coming from Zane's bedroom.

"ZAAAAANE!" It was Cole, Jay, and Kai calling out for him. "We need your help!"

"Well son, looks like you'll be holding that question. It seems your friends need you" Dr. Julien yawned and stretched his back, hearing his bones popped, "I probably need to go to bed…good night son…and don't forget the book. Wake up extra early tomorrow." He walked away to his room, getting ready to sleep.

Zane watched his father as he sighed sadly, the mere fact he didn't get the chance to ask his father regarding his certain subject. Instead, he heard his friends calling out for him again. He exhaled out of frustration, wondering what possible help he could give them.

Later, when he got to the room, he saw Jay standing in front of him, smiling. He was also hiding something behind his back.

"What is it that you called me for?" Zane asked. Then he glanced around, looking for the other two, "And where's Cole and Kai?"

Jay chuckled, smiling, "Oh there here…in this very room, Zane." He finally showed his hands out, holding some wires and their controller from their game box. Out of the blue, Cole and Kai grabbed Zane's arms from behind with their mischievous grin on their faces.

"What are you guys doing?" Zane asked, looking at the two behind. Cole and Kai began pushing him towards Jay.

"Oh nothing really…Just we need _you_ to help us set the game. That's all" Kai implied, pushing Zane.

"Yup! Nothing to be troubled about." Cole affirmed.

Zane was completely puzzled. If they needed him to help them set the game, why would they still need him when they could do it on their own?

"Oh. What kind of help do you want me to do?" The nindroid asked, now placed right in front of Jay…

"You'll see it buddy…you'll see…" Was Jay's last remark.

After thirty minutes…

"You know…when you said _setting the game…_You didn't tell me it would be like this…" Zane complained, sitting on the floor with his torso opened and wires connected from the consoles to his main system while his eyes used as projectors to see the screen. That's right…the boys managed to use Zane as their game box so that they could finally play Fist to Fist 4.

"Stop moving Zane! You're messing up the screen." Jay requested irately as he shook his controller. In the game, Kai's character was beating Jay's senseless until his character finally been defeated. Frustrated, Jay threw his controller to the floor and glared at Kai, who was doing his victory dance.

"Oh c'mon! Zane messed up the screen! I want a rematch!" He demanded.

Kai lifted his shoulder, "Fine, but you do realize you're only gonna end up losing…and losing…and losing…"

Jay picked up his controller again and restarted the game again, "We'll see about that hothead!"

Cole was watching the two fought in their game. As a matter of fact, he enjoyed watching Jay lose more than he could join the game with them.

"How long do you think they'll be finished?" Zane asked, turning his head slowly to Cole.

"ZANE!' Jay warned.

Quickly, Zane put his head back to position. Cole shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know…maybe when Jay finally beats Kai?"

"Which is never…" Kai added proudly. In that very scene, Zane didn't know how to feel that very day. His mind was still focused on something he didn't understand, and now his friends began treating him differently. When did things change? That question rambled into his mind. He wanted to know…he really did.

"I'm starting to think you guys are treating me like a machine than a brother…" He mumbled under his breath.

"What was that, Zane?!" Jay questioned, paying attention on the game.

"Nothing…" Was all he said.

Below the dark sewers, Fangtom had just arrived to meet up with Skales.

"Ssso…do they have the book?" Skales assumed.

The two headed general looked at each other then smirked, "Yesss they do…"

Skales grinned, "Excellent…"

* * *

**Chapter Five: Never Lost but Found (Part 1)**

In the far border of Ninjago City, there was a small town that stood peacefully. The houses were…lively and people were walking around, busy having conversation with few other people. But then, there was one house that seemed…alone on the far side of the street. It was considered to the same as the others, but this one was different. Its windows were shut tight, covered with bricks instead of glass windows that open…

Inside the house was someone living…

_"Hoot…Hoot…" _A white owl hooted, standing on its own bird stand as it watched its certain master running around the house, cleaning table tops, dusting book shelves, wiping off debris on top of the television, and fluffing the pillows on her bed. Her room was quite big, enough for a size of a living room, but what most interesting about her room, was that it was full of books of all kinds!

She had a hundreds of collection of Academic book, sci-fi novels, short stories, mystery novels, criminal fictions, Romance, encyclopedias, and the most she have were adventure novels. Although, some book shelves were full, there was one that needed one book to fill. It was one of Greg Farshtey's books. She had seven of them…and she needed the eighth book. She stared at that empty spot of the shelf then turned her head to her laptop.

There was a specific webpage opened, saying the eighth book of Greg Farshtey was out of stock with a red blinking marquee on it. And at the bottom, was a list of other websites that says the same thing.

She sighed, "I really need to get that book…"

_"Hoot! Hoot! Hoot!" _Her white owl hooted again then flew over to beside the brick covered window. Was the owl trying to tell her something? The question was…who was she?

Her name was…Cara. She was a young lady, probably the same age level as Nya. She has a long white hair, beautifully curled down on her right shoulder and she had a pair of pale blue eyes that no other ninjago girls would possessed. Most girls' eye color or even the boys have only one color and that was black. But she had the rarest hue of eyes. Cara was so desperate to have Greg Farshtey's eighth book…but there was a small problem…she never left the house in her entire life!

Walking towards to her pet, Cara gently stroked the owl's head. Then, she looked at her brick covered window…She imagined beautiful sceneries in her mind every time she would look at her window and frown whenever she knew that she'll never see what lies beyond that window.

Just then, she felt a twitch on her left arm. She lifted her arm up to see what was wrong.

"Not again…." She mumbled. After that, she went to her drawer, opened it, and pulled out a screw driver. Next, she sat on the chair and rested her left arm on top of it. Surprisingly, she slowly pulled her glove, same color as her skin, only to reveal her…mechanical arm!

She began twisting the screws near her elbow just so she could adjust the joints.

"There…" She confirmed, pulling her arm up and down to test it. Once fixed, she wore her glove again. She slumped on her chair at the same time staring at a certain picture frame right next to her laptop. There was her since she was a little girl and right next to her was her aunt named, 'Aunt Helswig.' The picture was taken inside the house in the living room.

She threw her gaze away of the picture, almost as if she despised it. She pulled up to her seat, and reached something underneath her blouse.

When she got it out, she stared at it with wonders in her eyes. It was her gold chained necklace with a tear drop shaped gem as the pendant and it was royal blue color…matches her eyes.

She leaned again to her chair as she held her necklace over to her chest as if it was the most precious thing in the world to her.

She was thinking of her parents. She never actually knew them, but she assumed they gave her the necklace for a special reason before her aunt found her. And as for her aunt, Cara never actually showed the necklace to her, she was scared her aunt might sell it. All of a sudden, she heard a loud door was slammed closed that made her jump off her chair.

_"Uh-oh…she's here…" _She thought worriedly_. _And with that, she proceeded out of her bedroom. But momentarily, she poked her head back in. "Stay right here, Snow…you know how she reacts when she sees you…" She referred to her Owl, Snow. Then, she went down the stairs to greet her.

Her aunt was…rather peculiar. She was an old woman and an archeologist, with pairs of saggy eye bags. Her hair was gray yet pointy into three cone shapes and it was utterly ridiculous. She was also wearing her expedition uniform and she had just placed her backpack on the floor. She had been travelling around the world in search for rare artifacts or relics.

"Cara dear! I'm hoooome!" Aunt Helswig singsong her name out. Cara, who just got down from the stairs smiled at her Aunt's presence. "Welcome back, Aunt Helswig." She greeted.

Aunt Helswig grinned and spread her arms wide as she approached her, "Ooh come here and give your aunty a hug! I missed you!"

Cara pulled back, "You—you don't have to—ow!" Her aunt squeezed her with love, even though Cara couldn't breathe much anymore, not with her nose smushed against her aunt's dirty vest.

Her aunt released her. Gasped for air, Cara almost fell down to the floor but managed to catch by her feet.

Aunt Helswig sat on her brown floral couch and rested her feet over the couch's stool. She sighed in relief, "I miss this house…now I can finally relax…" Cara on the other hand, wasn't that excited to see her aunt that much because she usually leaves the house eventually and come home after few or more weeks. It has been only one reason why she kept doing that, business.

Cara just stood next by the coffee table in the living room. "Do you need anything, aunt Helswig?" she asked.

Her aunt didn't give her any feed back instead she was starting to fall asleep on the couch. She also assumed that her aunt was feeling a little good mood since she got home from her travels. That is when she decided to tell her something very important, because knowing if her aunt wakes up again, she would keep talking and talking or sometimes tuned her out whenever she wanted to talk about something. At the same time, she was very nervous for the topic she wanted to discuss with her.

"Aunt Helswig…I was wondering…" she began nervously as she twiddled her hands, "There is this book I wanted to get tomorrow…and I was hoping If…" She took a deep breath, mustering all that courage then released, "I was hoping if I could buy it at the book store tomorrow and I promise I'll be back as fast as I could, please!"

At first, there was silence. She waited for her aunt to reply but she was laying her back against the couch with her eyes shut close…until soon it shut right open!

"What did you just say?" Her tone of voice changed from cheerful to being serious. She rose from her couch, glaring at her niece while slowly approached her. Shocked, Cara backed away a little so that she could have that distance from her aunt.

"I—I was…" She stuttered, "I was w-wondering if I could go and buy the book"

Aunt Helswig raised a brow, "You mean…_outside_?"

Cara gulped, "Y—Yes…But I promise I'll be…"

"NO!" Aunt Helswig demanded forcefully.

Cara froze by her answer, not because it was sudden and loud, but because she said _No_, meaning she could never get the book. That broke Cara's world apart. She was dying to have that book and complete her book collection of Greg Farshtey.

"But…But…" she stammered, "But I need to get that book! Tomorrow is its release and there's no more stock in the internet! I have to get it!"

Helswig furrowed her eye brows, "Cara! When I say no…it means no! Do you even know I never let you out of this house?!"

"I know! But—!" Before Cara could finish her explanation…her aunt out spoke her.

"Because you're a _freak_!" was she said…

Cara was speechless…she gazed down to the floor, reminiscing that certain memory when her aunt called her that. When she was a little girl, she used to play outside the house. She played from morning to afternoon with her friend owl, Snow. Until, a bunch of children came from the neighborhood started laughing at her because the way she looked.

_"You're a freak! You're a freak!" _That voice echoed in Cara's mind, sensing that childhood pain again, but worst of all…the accident.

"I know…" Cara said softly.

Aunt Helswig began walking around her, "Seriously…Cara. Look at you! You have a hair of an old person in a very young age. I mean come on…I should have that kind of hair color by now but…" She began fluffing her hair, feeling as if she was young and pretty, "Good thing I'm not." She glared back at her, "And don't get me started at those eyes of yours! People will think you're blind!"

She added, lifting Cara's left artificial mechanical arm, "Not to mention that accident you had…my dear…You're lucky I found you and raised you."

Deep down, Cara was full of grief within herself. Her eyes prickled, wanting to cry but she didn't. She pulled her left arm away, "I know that! But if I can't get the book…you could at least get it for me."

Helswig waved off, "I can't, I need to leave soon and I'll have another long business to attend to." She walked away, heading to her room.

"Wait, but you just got here…and you're leaving again?!" She said irately.

"Enough Cara…We are done talk—aurgh!" All of a sudden, Snow just flew right in front of her face! Cara almost chortled at the sight before her. It was funny for her and glad Snow barged in. But then of course, she knew how her aunt will react…

When Snow hovered over the lamp next to the book shelf, Cara went to her. Meanwhile, her aunt seemed not in her good looks anymore if that was she thought of her. Helswig's hair was usually stood out but this time her hair stood everywhere!

She groaned, clenching her teeth, "How many times do I have to tell you to keep your owl in the cage?! You know I'm allergic to birds."

"But you said I could free her if you're not around…and since you are leaving me again, what's the point of putting her in a cage?" Cara responded curtly.

"Just go to your room, young lady!" She commanded furiously, pointing her hand to her room upstairs, "And don't forget to lock yourself in your room!"

And with that, Cara muttered her way up to her room along with Snow, flying by her side.

She slammed her door closed loud enough for her aunt to hear then jumped over to her bed and buried her face under her pillows.

"This is so not fair…" She said sadly. Snow flew right next to her bed. Cara pushed the pillow away, looking at Snow. Afterwards, Snow flew again and landed beside the window. Cara wondered why she kept landing on the same spot beside the window. Snow turned her head then pecked on the brick covered window. Cara quickly sat up as she realized what her owl was telling her.

"You want me to go out?" She asked, walking towards Snow.

Snow nodded twice, _"Hoot…Hoot…"_

She pressed her hand over the brick covered window. She could almost feel the breeze outside that window and the warmth of the sunlight, heating on the other side. That was when Cara realized she had enough solitude in her life, and this time she had the determination to prove it.

"You know what…You're right. I am going to get that book no matter what the circumstances!" Cara proclaimed confidently, "And no lock doors or bricked windows will stop me…"

* * *

**Chapter six: Never Lost but Found (Part 2)**

The next morning, the boys were still sleeping…on the floor instead of in their beds. Zane slept while sitting with his switch panel open. It seemed the ninjas played their video game longer than Zane expected. As a matter of fact, they all over slept which includes him.

At that point, a certain feathered friend of Zane hovered behind the small glass window, looking for his master. Falcon began pecking the glass, trying to wake Zane. Eventually, it worked as Zane slowly opened his sleepy eyes.

Kai was still sleeping then turned his body, grumbling, "Zane…keep that bird of yours to stay quiet…"

Zane looked up to the window and was surprised his falcon came back. He stood up, closed his switch panel, and went over by the window. He opened it, letting his friend come in. As Falcon flew in, he landed on Zane's right arm.

"Good morning, my feathered Friend." Zane greeted, "Where have you been these days?"

Falcon reached his beak to his master's other switch panel on his left arm. He gave it a peck to open. Zane watched how his falcon does it…only leading to see the time right in front of him.

It was quarter to eight am. Shocked, Zane gasped as he realized he had over slept, knowing he promised his father he would wake up extra early to get his book.

_"The book!" _Zane thought loudly. And with that, he ran out from his room while Falcon flew after him. When he got out by the hallway, he saw his father standing behind his back, looking outside the window. Zane quickly hid himself behind the stairways as soon as his father turned around. Soon, Dr. Julien walked away to his room. Zane sighed in relief. Since he was already hiding near the stairs, leading to the upper deck, he went up. His Falcon watched his master almost walking out of the ship wearing his fighting kimono outfit.

Falcon flew to him then hovered right in front of him, telling him to stop before he could exit the ship. Zane was confused at first of his friend to do that, until he saw his reflection into his falcon eyes. That was when the time Zane had realized what his friend telling him about. He could not go out to the city with his kimono on. People will noticed him a lot, including his fan girls of Ninjago. So, he spinitsu himself, transforming his kimono garment into his usual civilian clothes, his white leathered jacket with white shirt underneath it and grey jeans.

He looked at Falcon, "Is this much better?"

Falcon screeched in affirmation then screeched again as he flew away to a different direction.

Was Falcon telling him to follow him? Zane knew there was a near book store just across the street, but he sensed his feathered companion was trying to say something to him. Hence, he followed his falcon's instinct and went with it.

In the intervening time, Cara had woken up extra early just so she could sneak pass her aunt while she was sleeping. Unfortunately, her aunt had already left the house along with her other stuff she needed. The most stressful part was…it has been almost an hour, and Cara was trying to open the front door. It seemed her aunt had locked it from the outside.

She muttered, picking the lock with a hairpin, "Of course she would lock the door!" She kept wriggling the pin through the door hole for almost additional thirty minutes…until she heard a click!

Cara beamed, "Yes!" But then, she felt her neck stiffened, daring to look at the time. When she slowly turned her neck to the wall clock…it was already quarter to eight.

This was it…it was time for her to leave the nest, even if it mean leaving the house for awhile.

Deep down, she was nervous to go out…it had been so long she stayed in her house that she didn't know what the Ninjago looks like anymore, especially the people consists in it. Then, she felt a push behind her back. Cara swiveled, seeing Snow with her big beady eyes. Smiled, Cara stroke Snow's head, she loves it when Cara rubs it.

Cara took the deepest breath she could and then released as she turned around facing the door. Afterwards, she wore her grey hood on, concealing

her face. Yesterday, before she could leave the house, she decided to wear her grey jacket so that people won't notice how she looked. She even

matched it with her white dress underneath it and her necklace hanging around her neck. She stretched her hand to the door knob, giving it a twist…

then finally opened the door of opportunity. A bright light flashed upon her as the air swooshed down gently on her skin. The light, she almost had

forgotten to how it felt so dearly warm. Taking the first step to another, she began to feel that adrenaline within her just like the characters she read

from her adventure novels. The next thing she knew, she was outside her abode.

_"Hoot!"_

Cara gazed back at Snow, "Don't worry, Snow. I'll be back…I promise." And with that, the door closed gently shut and Cara was on her way to the world of Ninjago.

For the meantime, the three sleepy heads in the bounty were still…well…sleeping.

Kai was sleep-talking, "Give it…up Jay…you never…gonna…beat me."

Jay was hugging the controller and Cole snored loud as a chainsaw. But that was about to turn around when Sensei Wu came in to their room, holding out his gong. He banged the stick against the gong repeatedly.

Once they heard the loud bang, Kai instantly sat up. Jay did the same and accidentally tossed the controller up then landed back on his head. "Ouch!" He winced, rubbing his head. Cole groaned reaching for the pillow on Jay's bed, covering his ears.

Sensei Wu stopped banging the gong and spoke, "May I remind you ninjas that you have a mission to fulfill. Put your backs into it!"

Cole slowly sat up, massaging his back, "I don't think I can't feel my back anymore…"

Jay smirked, "The question is Cole…do you even have a back?"

The ninja of earth was once again irritated and threw the pillow hard to Jay's face, making him knocked down to the floor.

Kai yawned, rubbing his eyes. He noticed there was only three of them, "Hey, where's Zane?" he asked.

"Zane already left! I suggest you do the same." Sensei Wu gave one last bang on the gong and walked out of the room.

"Whaaat?! Zane didn't even bother waking us up?" Jay complained. Standing up as he stretched, Cole walked to the door, "Come on guys, Sensei's right. We need to find that stone if we're going to find the rest."

Several hours later, the ninjas of earth, fire, and lightning came inside the bridge. Nya was already inside as usual.

"Morning, sis." Kai greeted.

Jay smiled, "Hey Nya."

"Wow. You guys overslept again…" She said, "Now that you're here, I did some research on the places you'll look." Nya went towards the huge monitor, showing a huge map of Ninjago City.

In the screen, there were red circles on different side of the streets.

"I've marked all the antique shops and pawnshops you've been intending to look, Cole. So I decided to print a map for you guys so you can search around without getting lost. Ninjago City is a big place you know." She explained. Then a map printed out beside the monitor. Cole approached it and pulled it out of the printer. He was impressed of Nya's skills, especially when she was willing to help them.

"Thanks Nya, this is a big help." He replied. He looked over to his two friends, "Let's go guys. We have a stone to find." The three head out the room, but Jay gazed back at Nya, who just gave him a flying kiss. And Jay left the room, dazed from her kiss.

"Good luck!" She asserted.

Nya was right about Ninjago City. It was truly and remarkably big. The three ninjas began their search on an antique shop, where once two burglars

stole the owner's products. It happened few days ago. Cole decided to start here since the store keeper must be thankful for them they helped him

retrieved his relics and he might know some information.

Jay brought the book as well so that they can show every store owners what the stone looked like. The door chimed as Cole entered the shop. Inside the antique shop, were shelves of ancient items from long past, dusty even. The store smelled like old books yet with a touch of earthy scent.

On the other side of the store, there was glass counters consisted of all variety of stones.

However, the store keeper was not around. So, Cole rang the bell beside the cashier to call.

"I'm coming…I'm coming." The store keeper spoke as he entered the shop from behind.

He had grey hair and wore a brown sweater. He reached by the cashier area, adjusting his square shaped glasses. When he finally saw some familiar faces, he smiled at their presence.

He chuckled, "Why hello there, ninjas! What can I do for you on this fine day?"

"Hello there, sir. We were hoping if you could help us." Cole said sincerely.

"Why of course! Anything for you people, now…what kind of help do you want me to aid you?"

Cole looked at Jay, letting him know to show the book. Jay understood what he meant and approached the owner. He opened the book to the page where the picture of the stone was.

"We were hoping if you have this kind of stone in your shop." Cole said, pointing the picture of the stone.

The store keeper adjusted his glasses again, observing the picture, "Hmmmm….I think I might have that stone…but I'm not sure if that's the same in the book."

The three exchanged glances at each other, thinking they might get lucky.

Kai nodded and looked at the store keeper, "It's worth a shot."

The store owner chuckled, "Well…let's come this way." He went by the glass counter where the gems were displayed. The ninjas followed. He slid the glass door open, pulled the tray of gems out, and placed carefully on the top of the counter.

"That'ssss a lot of stones you got there, sir." Jay proclaimed.

He pointed his thumb to the back, "You haven't seen the rest of it. I have more at the back." He continued, "These gems were collected long years ago and was used as accessories in the ancient times. Some people long before us used these gems as part of their ritual to open a spiritual gate to the next realm…"

"That's the kind of stone we're looking for!" Kai exclaimed. The store keeper's eyes widened. Were his ears heard that correctly? His thoughts drifted in a way where it is impossible for a gem to that these days. Heck, he wasn't even sure if those gems he had was used in the rituals.

"Pardon me?" He asked.

Kai waved his hands, "N-n-no! What I mean was—"

Cole gave Kai a stern look, "What HE meant was sir…we were kinda interested in studying them."

"Oh." He smiled, "I'm sure you'll find them interesting. For now, feel free to look for the stone you needed." He walked away towards the back of the store, "If you need anything, just ring the bell."

"We'll do sir. Thanks" Cole responded.

Jay gazed down on the gems, estimating how many stones he could search before finding the right one.

"Do you think the stone is in this place?" Kai questioned, rubbing the back of his neck.

"There's only one way to find out. Keep searching now!" Cole commanded.

* * *

On the other hand, Zane watched his falcon flying ahead of him while he simply walked on the streets like it was just an ordinary day.

_"I wonder where my falcon friend leading me to…" _He thought curiously. Not very far away, Falcon flew faster, indicating he must be getting close to the destination. Zane noticed him and began running after him. Few minutes later, Falcon had landed over a store sign, hanging on the side of the wall. On the sign, it says…

"Read Awhile Books…" Zane read it when he finally reached to Falcon.

He tilted his head in puzzlement. "Why did you bring me here, my feathered friend?"

Falcon led Zane to a different book store. Falcon screeched. That one…Zane didn't understand what he meant, but he assumed he wanted to tell him to go inside.

Zane sighed, "I just hope I could still get the book for my father…" And with that, he entered the book store. Within the store's ground, there were just

few people inside, mostly middle aged people reading their novels quietly. He glanced everywhere, searching for the general fiction area, where he

could find his father's book. He hover his finger on the book's spine one book to another, scanning all the titles and author's name, but there was none.

So, he transferred to another shelf, doing the same thing.

Just then, something gleamed on Zane's left eye. He looked to his left and saw that gleaming object moved away by someone who was wearing a grey

hooded jacket. The sun outside must've shed its light on the object. He watched the person walked around until he/she moved away from the light. But

Zane shook the intention away. He didn't even know why he got interested on that person with the shinning object. Looking back to the books, he

went scanning again.

When that mysterious person got close to him, Zane was looking at a certain book in his hands until he caught a glimpse on something he didn't expect. The person was wearing a gold chain necklace with a royal blue stone shaped like tear drop.

But Zane didn't get the chance to look at it completely because the person crouched down, searching books on the lower case of the shelf. And so, Zane crouched as well, peering through the gap between two books…and this time he got it in full view. With his memory storage system, he recorded the picture of the stone from the book last night and then he scanned the pendant.

According from his database, he compared the one from the book and one from the person who was wearing it. It took a couple of minutes to see the results and then after that, the results came in blinking digitally…and it says…**MATCH.**

Zane's eyes went wide. He was surprised and speechless, knowing the fact he didn't expect he would find the one stone that could lead him and his friends to look for the gems of the underworld.

Now, the only things he needs to know was to find out who was wearing it. The person who crouched down stood up. Zane quickly stood up as well, not wanting to lose his sight over the person. But when he did, the person was gone like an instant!

"What the…" He scratched the back of his head, confused.

He stood on the tip of his toes, searching over the shelves for that person who wore the necklace. He kept looking everywhere, transferring into a different area to another until it felt like the world was spinning around him.

As a matter of fact, he wasn't aware where he was going when all of a sudden, he bumped into someone. Both fell down to the floor along with the book.

Zane shook his head and was alarmed he had hit someone by accident. He looked up at the person he bumped, "I'm terribly sorry. I didn't—"But before

he could finish his sentence, he gasped at the person before him, not in a negative way. The person he knocked with had white long hair, curled

beautifully down on her right shoulder and those pale blue eyes…which Zane find her intriguing. It was Cara…and she didn't know her hood was

dropped down, exposing her face completely.

The ninja of ice stared at her very long. Though he didn't realize his stare turned out to be a daze. Then he couldn't move his body, his mouth was agape and his artificial heart was beating rapidly. He began to wonder if his system was malfunctioning or it was something else like he was under a trance...

And then, Zane shook his head, drifting away from his thoughts to his senses. He saw a book in front of him. He assumed it belonged to her. And just as when he was about to pick it up, Cara's left hand touched over his when they were both going to grab the book together. Cara's cheek flushed into a pinkish color while Zane blushed at the sudden gesture.

Suddenly, Cara and Zane felt a spark! Not the kind of spark when two people bond together lovingly but a spark like something short circuited.

They quickly pulled their hands away from the electrocuting sensation. "Ow!" they winced in unison.

"My apologies…I didn't mean to hit you." Zane responded, picking up the book. He stood up and lends her a hand. When Cara finally looked up as she grabbed him with a different hand, her eyes widened with curiosity. Was it because of his looks? Maybe…or was it because she sensed something really different about him, judging from the spark she felt and his hands felt unusually warm. Her thoughts began dragging her with questions.

_"Where did that spark come from? And how? Was it because of my left arm? But I just fixed that yesterday…there's no way it could have short circuited like that! Unless…no…that's impossible he's a human being." _

Once Cara stood up, he didn't know what to say right in front of him. Perhaps, it was her first human interaction from outside. Besides her aunt, she was used to her.

"Thanks…and it's alright." She said softly. Zane didn't know why…but he just couldn't stop gazing at her. He almost forgot about the necklace. And Cara couldn't stop staring at him either. Silence engulfed the two. Soon, Cara gently shook her head, bringing herself back to reality. She noticed he was holding her book she just picked from the shelf.

She cleared her throat, "Uhmm…c-can I have my book back please?"

When Zane heard her voice, he fell back to reality again. He looked at the book he took from the floor and what happened next was…he was utterly surprised. It was the book he was looking for the whole time. But he had almost forgotten it wasn't his. Reaching his hand out, Zane gave the book back to her. Cara gladly received her book.

She gave a hint of giggle in her tone, "For a moment there…I thought you would not give the book to me."

Zane chuckled, rubbing his neck, "Why would I not give it to you?"

"Because it's the last stock…" She replied.

Zane stiffened, knowing the fact he had his father's book within his grasp.

The worst part was he lost his chance of getting the book to his father. He sighed sadly in his thoughts. But on the bright side, he did manage to seek what was part from his mission. But unfortunately, he didn't know how to tell her regarding about her necklace. He couldn't just go straight to the point about her necklace being the key to find the four gems of the underworld which could lead to Ninjago's doom if used by the wrong hands!

"Excuse me…" He began, "If I may ask. Where did you get that necklace?"

Cara clutched her necklace, feeling a little nervous, "What about my necklace?"

Zane was about to speak, but Cara saw her reflection behind Zane by the mirror, hanging on the edge of the wall. She just discovered her hood wasn't longer concealing her face. Gasped, she quickly put her hood on and turned away from Zane before anyone noticed her.

Startled, Zane got confused with her sudden behavior and he didn't even start his explanation yet.

"I'm so sorry…but I have to go." She said, her back turned against him. She proceeded to the cashier so she could pay for the book, leave the store and go home. Zane stretched out his hand to her, but she left quite in a hurry. Little what Zane and Cara didn't know was that someone was watching them the whole period, especially Cara…

It was one of the hypnobrai clan, wearing a long coat, a fake brown beard and a black shade to match it.

A man came walking by, staring at him, not helping he looked really weird…and ugly.

The snake glared at the man and hissed furiously, "What are you looking at?!"

The man was shocked and walked away fast as he could. It glared back at the white ninja then to Cara, who had just paid her book to the cashier.

And then, before Cara could leave the book store, she looked back at the strange boy again, wondering what his name was and why was he interested knowing her necklace. After that, she left the building. That was the Snake's signal as he went to follow the girl.

Zane stood as he watched her exited the book store. His hands were still stretched far then he gazed at his right hand where he felt that spark. Until now, he could still feel that electrocution left in the palm of his hand.

_"Strange…" _He thought curiously. Then, he heard a person winced and a loud thud, almost as if some books were knocked down. He darted at that source, and saw a man bumped to another person, who fell on the floor along several books scattered on the carpet near the registrar area.

He noticed the individual who wore a suspicious outfit immediately surged out the door and passed by the store window then turned by the alley. That was when Zane realized it was the same direction his mysterious friend went. He had a bad feeling about that…

* * *

Cole, Jay, and Kai had their day booked in the antique shop and they were still in the first one in their map!

"This is hopeless!" Jay proclaimed, "It's been hours since we got here and we still couldn't find it!"

Kai held two stones in each of his hands, comparing it, "Maybe we could find the stone on the back…we haven't check there yet."

Cole sighed exhaustedly, "This is harder than I thought it would be. We haven't even checked the other antique stores yet and it's been almost hours!"

"Why can't we just ask that guy you said?" Jay looked up, recalling the person's name, "What was his name again? The guy who collects rare junks and stuff?"

"You mean…Clutch Powers?" Cole answered.

Jay nodded, "Yeah! That's the one. It would be so easier if we could ask the guy if he knows anything about the stone."

Jay's idea wasn't that bad. In fact, Cole agreed to his idea and it would be easier for the ninjas to search for their stone but…

"First of all…we don't even know where he is. Second, He's probably busy exploring the world out there finding artifacts." Cole explained, "And third, even if we would go to your plan that would consumed us a lot of time or else those snakes will find that stone before we do!"

"You know what makes this job easier?" Kai urged, "If Zane's here to help us. Where the heck is that nindroid anyway!?"

* * *

Walking her way back home, Cara took a short cut by the alley way. She held her book over her chest. She was very happy and satisfied that she got her book. The best part was, her mean aunt won't know a single thing about her leaving the house or breaking her rule. Though she found it interesting about the guy she met back at the book store.

She just couldn't get her mind off him… he seemed mysterious in his way. She looked at her left hand, sensing that spark in her palm.

_"Who is he?"_ She thought questionably. At that moment in time, Cara heard a loud noise coming behind her back. She quickly turned around and noticed it was only a garbage bin knocked by a cat. She sighed in relief as her heart pounded fast. She actually thought it was her aunt following her.

When she faced the front again, it was unexpected for her to be collided to someone standing in front of her. Where did he come from? She collapsed to the ground with her book slipped out from her hands.

_"Pleassse forgive me…missss." _The person reached out for her hand, _"Let me help you…"_

Cara was looking down while she rubbed her head from the impact. She felt she got hit by an armor. That's how hard it was.

"How many times do I need to fall on the ground..?" She whispered, "It's really getting annoying…"

Instead of the person helping her stand, she just managed to do it herself as she dusted her clothes from the dirt. "It's ok I guess…" She said then looked up and gasped at the person before her or was it really a person?

Cara slowly backed away, seeing a monster right in front of her eyes. The monster turned out to have a head of a cobra snake with bulging red spiraled eyes. It was one of the hypnobrai clan, still wearing his phony brown beard.

"ARE…ARE YOU A SNAKE?!" Cara continued to backed away further until she felt another bump behind her back. She froze while she turned her head nervously to see what blocked her escape. Her eyes went wide than usual, seeing another snake-man holding her by the arms.

She was about to scream for help but the serpentine covered her mouth, preventing her to shout.

"Mmmmph! Mmmmph!" Cara mumbled, squirming out from the snake's grip. Terrified, Cara didn't know what to do. She started to feel remorse about leaving the house and breaking her aunt's rule. Now, she faced a severe consequence that she didn't quite expect. The snake approached Cara, reaching for her necklace.

"Thisss will definitely pleassssse the generalssss…" He hissed, holding the pendant.

"Let her go!" A warning voice was heard from behind the two serpentines. They both turned around along with Cara to see who spoke that. Cara's eyes widened again when she saw the boy with his white jacket but this time he was clutching an icy blade sword.

Zane glared at the two serpentine, walking towards them, "I will not repeat myself…"

"Pleasssse! Big talk for a human…" The serpentine said. He brought out his bow staff, twirled it around his hand and the he ran towards Zane to attack. The other snake held Cara far so that she couldn't get caught by the fight. When the snake took the first strike, he swung his bow staff aiming to Zane's head but he quickly evaded the weapon by jumping way above him as he did a summersault then landed perfectly on his feet.

While the snake was on his back, Zane swiftly swayed his sword and sliced the snake's weapon into half. Next, he twirled himself into his spinjitsu while he gave the enemy his spinning roundhouse kick. The snake flew off and hit against the brick wall, unconscious.

Cara could not believe her eyes. She was astounded by the boy's skills and his spinjitzu maneuver. If she recalled, she read books about ancient martial arts of Ninjago including the history behind it and how it was formed. She was surprise he was one of those people who had learned it. And also, she felt the grip around her was beginning to loosen. She gazed up, seeing the snake was distracted watching the fight. This was an opportunity for Cara.

She remembered from one of her adventure novels, where the antagonist was being grabbed by one bad soldier. The antagonist stomped his feet on the opponent's foot then head butted him back to the wall and knocked him down. Cara had to quickly decide or else she would end up held captive again. With that, she took a deep breath, lifted her foot then stomped against the serpentine's scaly foot.

"YOUCH!" He cried in pain. When the snake finally let go of her, she threw her head back, knocking the snake's snout then hit against the wall. "Ouch! That hurts…" she spoke, rubbing her aching head. Afterwards, she picked up her book and hid it inside her jacket.

To think the fight was over, Cara didn't much hit the snake hard instead it only rose, looking at her with fury.

"You'll pay for that!" He yelled, raising his fist up, ready to smack her. All of a sudden, her necklace began to glow magically with its bluish aura around it. It blinked and blinked until it flashed brighter than the sun! It was so bright even in the Destiny's bounty, Nya had seen it.

"What the—!" Cara covered her eyes against the bright light. The serpentine however was blinded by it that he became stunned. Zane shielded his eyes and ran towards to his mysterious friend. Cara's eyes were affected by the light that she couldn't see a thing. And then, she felt a hand grabbed hers, pulling her away out of the alley. The next thing she knew, she was running with the boy holding her right hand. That warmth again…she felt it coursing over her hand once more.

"Are you alright?" Zane asked, looking back at her.

"I'm…I'm fine…" she stuttered, "What's going on?! What did those snake people want?!"

Soon, they both stopped at a two direction alley. Zane carefully picked which pathway was the safest. He took the left one and began running again, "They want the stone on your necklace."

Cara took the pendant, gazing at it. The stone on her necklace was still illuminating with a bluish color. It was the first time she discovered her necklace was capable of doing that. So many questions echoed in her head and so many answers she wanted to know in this wild situation she was in. She assumed it was an ordinary pendant, but her thoughts were wrong.

"What do they want my necklace for?" She demanded, "AND most importantly…WHO ARE YOU!?"

"Those are excellent questions…" Zane took another left turn, "Let me answer you're first question…The stone in your necklace is the key to find the four gems of the underworld, without it…we can't find those gems. It's part of our mission to look for them including yours."

Speechless, Cara wasn't even sure if she heard that correctly. It was too much of information to handle for just a small stone. "The gems of **what?!**" She asked, not believing what he explained.

"I know it seems confusing to you but…" Zane and Cara managed to stop when they finally came out the mazy alley. He added, "When I saw you at the bookstore, I realized you're the only one who can find those gems. And oh…forgive me if I haven't introduced myself…my name is—!"

Before Zane could even say his name, a spear just darted through the wall between the two, just inches close from having their heads shot. What came after the spear was loud roaring engine…

They both turned around, witnessing three fangpyre snakes rode a green vicious vehicles called, bite cycles. The red headed reptiles twisted the accelerators of their cycles, making the engine rumble loudly. Time was at the essence, Zane had to quickly think how he and his friend escape from the clutches of the Fangpyres. He glanced around his environment, hoping to find another vehicle that can outrun the snakes. Luckily…he saw a sports motorcycle parked in front of a motor repair shop.

Without hesitation, Zane took Cara heading to the vehicle, "Quickly this way!" Once settled in the motorcycle, Zane of course immediately turned the ignition on, twisted the starter switch, and then the sports motorcycle began roaring its engine. When he finally hit the accelerator, the wheels on the back screech loudly as smoke emerged from the friction. Then they were driving away from the fangpyres. The three snakes started driving after them.

Meanwhile, Cole, Jay, and Kai exited from the antique shop with exhaustion in their faces.

"Great…we just wasted our time over piles of stones and neither all of them wasn't in the book!" Jay complained.

Kai let out a breath, "We have to keep searching." He looked at Cole, "Where's the next place we're going to look at?"

"Let's see…" Cole began reaching for the map Nya printed, glancing over the red marks, "It says here there's a pawnshop…not that far away as a matter of fa—!"

The map was suddenly blown away by a fast vehicle that had just passed by them. Jay was utterly surprised who was driving it.

"Is…is that Zane?!" He said, not sure if he saw it correctly.

Kai saw him too, but he wondered who else was sitting at the back, "The question is who's with him?"

"The real question is…Why is he—!" Another three fast vehicle passed by with such speed. The vehicle they saw was awfully familiar to them, especially the one who's driving.

"Are those the Fangpyres?!" Jay exclaimed then gaze at Kai and Cole, "I think Zane's in trouble!"

"No…ya think?! I thought he's was only having a nice drive for a picnic!" Kai replied sarcastically.

"What about more action and less…" Cole noticed a huge shadow shrouding the streets from where they stood, "What is it now?!" The three looked up and were taken aback seeing the Destiny's Bounty flying above them!

Nya appeared by the balcony, gazing down at the three.

She smiled, "Well what are you guys waiting for?!"

She dropped the ladder for the ninjas to climb. The three could not believe their eyes. Their ship…their home was once again soaring above the sky. The ship has brand new sails. The rocket boosters have a newly entire interior and the engine within it was fully enhanced.

The ninjas began climbing up the ladder to the ship. When they made it to the deck, they saw Nya on board.

"The Bounty is flying again! She's flying again!" Jay yelled blissfully.

Dr. Julien folded his arms across his chest, feeling proud, "Of course she's flying again! Her engine has been replaced by new parts. Now, she's ready to go!"

"But what were you guys doing in the city?" Cole questioned, "And how did you find us?"

"Well it's kind of hard to explain…" Nya answered, "First me and Dr. Julien were fixing the engine. Then I saw a strange light shot out across the city until it hit…" She pointed her hand to the northern west of Ninjago, where the dark mountainous land located, "Over there. At the same time were sort of testing the bounty's flight mode and then we came across you guys."

Kai advised, "Look…I know we should be celebrating about this in all…But Zane needs our help! We can celebrate about this later."

As a father, Dr. Julien began to feel very worry about his son. He knew he would leave early to get his book, but never expected he could involve in such great risk. "Where is he?!"

"He want that way." Kai replied, pointing his finger out to the east, "Sis, you know what to do."

Nya saluted and nodded, "Aye aye! Captain!" She ran inside the bridge to the help to stir the ship. Inside the bridge, Nya pulled the lever and gave the helm a hundred eighty degree turn, heading to the direction where Zane went.

On the consequent of time, Zane and Cara were still on their high speed chase with the three fangpyres and their bite cycles. Zane drove his way while he avoided some traffics and obstacle at the same time. But somehow, the fangpyres were gaining at them.

"Is there any plan to shake them off our tails!?" Cara asked loudly over the loud motor.

Zane's eyes scanned every road obstacle ahead of him, searching of a way to eliminate their foes. Just then, right above their heads a shadow casted onwards. Zane and Cara looked up and were really surprised to see a familiar ship. Except for Cara, she was flabbergasted to see a flying ship before her eyes.

_"Am I…dreaming? Is that a flying ship?!" _She thought disbelievingly, _"I must be dreaming! This can't be happening to me…" _

"It's the bounty! It's finally fixed!" Zane proclaimed happily. Suddenly, the three bite cycles engaged close to them one on the left, one on the right, and one behind. The snake behind stretched out his hand, reaching for Cara's necklace.

She quickly pulled away, clutching her necklace dearly, "I'm still waiting for that plan..!"

Kai, Jay, and Cole gazed down from the balcony as they watched their brother drove his way from the serpentine.

"Whoa…where did Zane get the motorcycle?" Jay asked. He looked at the road ahead of his friend and noticed there were several road blocks on the way. He warned, "Hey buddy! Watch out!"

Zane darted at the road and there were road signs and traffic cones almost practically everywhere. Probably some road repair and they were about to crash. However, for him it was also an opportunity.

"Remember that plan you've been asking for?" He asked to his friend.

"Yes?"

"Well this one might be it but I'm not sure if you're going to like it…"

And so, Zane reached the gold hilt out as its icy blade emerged from it. He twirled the sword in his hand then thrust it onwards as an icy beam blasted out from the blade, creating a huge ramp made out of ice. Once it was done, Zane hit the accelerator twice to add more speed and momentum.

"HANG ON!" He bellowed.

Cara wrapped her arms around his torso while her face buried against his back. She was scared of what was going to happen next. The whole situation carried on her shoulders was too overwhelming for her.

First, her necklace turned out to be a mystical stone that could look for the gems of the underworld. Second, she was being chased by snakes she hasn't seen before her entire life. And last, she ended up being with a stranger that has ice powers and could do spinjitsu…but…for some reason…she felt safe with him. She didn't know why but she felt she could trust him.

The motorcycle finally made it to the ramp and now they were sailing away high towards the bounty. They both could feel the gravity around them, lifting from their seats. Zane quickly stood up then grabbed his friend by the hand. He jumped against the vehicle, stretching his other hand forward to the bounty hoping he could grab the balcony ledge. Zane's friend watched him, praying he could make it. But fortunately, he did eventually as they hung by the portside of the ship.

He looked down at his friend, "Are you alright in there?"

Cara gazed up, holding his hand to her dear life, "I'm fine. I guess…"

"Quick, pulled them in!" Cole commanded.

Jay and Kai went to Zane, took him by the hand, and gently pulled him up along with his friend.

The fangpyre snakes however, didn't have the guts or speed to use the ice ramp. Instead, one of them hit the brakes and skids toward the garbage truck parked on the side while the other two lost their control then crashed against through an open van filled with tar…

Kai helped Zane stand up then spoke, "Are you alright, bro?"

"I'm fine. Thanks for asking." Zane answered.

The ninja of fire smiled, "Good." He furrowed his eye brows, "Where the heck have you been?! We've bee—Oof!" Jay suddenly pushed Kai aside, "Man! That was awesome! The way you made that ramp then you flew in to this ship was epic!"

Kai stood up from the floor and then glared at Jay, who was startled and gave him his lousy smile.

Cole gave a pat on Zane's back, "Glad to have you back, frosty."

Dr. Julien sighed in relief now his son was back safe and still in one piece. He gave a hint of smile looking at him.

Though, from all the commotion and celebration, they had completely forgotten their guest onboard the Bounty. Cara was dumbfounded. She still couldn't accept the fact what just happened to her, and yet as she watched the others celebrate like it was nothing to them…she on the other hand was still stuck in her mind about her being back at the book and happily bought the book in her grasp. But it was the other way around…

"E-excuse me…" She stuttered softly. The others did not hear her attention, until she got frustrated and decided to put her stress in her tone, "EXCUSE ME!"

The ninjas were paused, startled by her voice. They turned their heads to her.

She added, "Can someone please tell me what's going on?! I'm still confused here!"

Zane's eyes went wide. He almost forgotten his friend being onboard the ship. He felt rude of himself to do so, but he never meant it on purpose.

"Oh. I'm really sorry…" He said, approaching her.

"Who's your little friend there?" Jay asked. That, Zane never thought about…asking her name.

And just when he was about to ask her, Cara's necklace glowed brightly again. The three ninjas were astounded, not believing what they're really seeing. Only because they had searched piles of stones for more than hours and ended up with no results. Unlike Zane, he managed to find it in one blow.

"Is that the stone?!" Kai proclaimed, pointing his finger at it.

Jay brought out the book, flipping to a certain page, and there he saw the picture of the stone. He gazed at her necklace then looked down at the book and he looked up again, trying to compare if it was truly the right one.

"I can't believe it! It's the one we've been looking for…" Jay looked up Zane, "You found it!"

"Indeed he has…" Sensei Wu walked in as he observed the stone's illumination. He looked up at the person who possessed it, but he could not see her face clearly because of her hood. He could sense the person was frightened.

"Come inside, and we'll explain everything to you while we have tea." He said assuring.

It has been a long day gone in Ninjago. For Cara, it was the strangest day she ever had as she sat by the table, holding her cup of warm tea. She kept tapping her finger against the tabletop feeling nervous around with other people she doesn't even know. After Sensei Wu explained to her, she was beginning to be more confused as ever. Not to mention the pressure she was taking in when everyone in the room was staring at her, waiting for her answer.

"So it is true…" Cara spoke, "About my necklace and the gems of the underworld…"

Sensei Wu nodded, "Yes it is, and you are the only who possessed the stone and the only one who can find those gems."

"So…will you do it?" Cole questioned, "I mean…helping us find those gems?" The tension grew more around her. At this moment, she didn't know what to answer. She never knew this could happen to her for just disobeying her aunt's rule.

_Aunt Helswig_. The name just stung in her head. She even grew a lump on her throat for remembering her after she had forgotten all about her back then. And knowing the fact if her aunt finds out about her…she will _kill _her.

"I…I don't know…" She stammered.

Underneath her hooded jacket, Zane remembered what she looked like and was still thinking about what happened to him back at the bookstore with all his malfunctions. Her whole feature intrigued him, especially her pale blue eyes and white long curly hair that seemed to match his uniform. Right now, he wondered if he could see her face again behind that hood.

Zane stated calmly, "The lives of the many rests in your hands. I know this seemed too much for you but it's the only way to save Ninjago." Looking at him once more, she find his voice very calm but serious. She still sense something really about him that her mind could not take. She also noticed he had been protecting her. Just realizing that, her heart began flutter and she didn't know why.

Jay added, "If your scared about the whole deal…just think of it this way…While your helping us find the gems you'll get the chance to explore Ninjago, you know… like an adventure!"

_Adventure. _The word somehow caused her stomach to tightened, in a sort of good way. In her thoughts, she had always dreamed to go out and explore just like the novels she reads back home, where the characters fought their way to find buried treasures or lost cities. Was their a meaning to why she got involved in this? Was there something trying to tell her?

Could this be the chance to have that adventure like she wanted? So many possibilities were wondering in her mind. Bu before she could enumerate them all, she thought about the positive sides when she's out the world.

_"Let's see…I did leave Snow some food and water…and Aunt Helswig will not be back for a few weeks_…_and…" _Shegazed out the window near at her side, looking beyond of Ninjago where her home town stood. The best part of all she thought about the positive side was…she will be away from her solitude home that she loathed so much.

She smiled secretively then glanced back at the rest, "Well…" she began, "I guess…a little adventure wouldn't hurt."

Cole, Jay, Kai, and Zane beamed as they exchanged glances at each other then cheered for a celebration, knowing she had accepted her offering help of searching the gems of the underworld. Sensei Wu gave a smile while stroking his long white beard.

"Now that you have accepted your mission, let me introduce you to the ninjas." He responded. He first pointed his staff to Cole, "Cole, the ninja of earth."

He pointed his staff to Kai, "Kai, the ninja of fire."

Then he pointed his staff to Jay, "Jay, the ni—!"

"**Ninja of lightning**!" Jay barged, "Of course that's not the only element I possessed…I can do inventing, music, poetry, and…"

"JAY!" Cole and Kai lashed in unison. And last but not the least, what she ever wondered his name was. Once, Sensei Wu pointed the staff at Zane, Nya came into the room.

"Hey guys! Have you discussed what you needed to discuss?" She asked. She looked at her right, noticing a visitor in the ship.

She smiled, "Oh hello there! My name's Nya."

"She's my sister too." Kai included.

Once again, Zane was tuned out…twice. Every time he tries introducing himself, something or someone comes in to interrupt. He sighed in defeat, but he hoped to know her name soon.

Cara smiled at the friendly gesture. But deep down she was very excited to be part of their mission. This was her first time she actually got out for a real adventure yet to begin.

* * *

Peering through a pair of binoculars, Skales grinned mischievously, watching the ninjas from the top of a building. Skalidor slithered to Skales followed by Fangtom and Acidicus along by his side.

"They're ssso pathetic!" Skalidor proclaimed.

"Yesssss…Indeed they are." Skales agreed, "They are completely foolsss! They didn't know what hit them! My plan issss going precisely as I expected…"

The left- headed Fangtom asked, "Do you think they found the ssstone they are looking for?"

Skales lowered the binoculars, "According from my reptilian associatesss…one of the ninja found _her _possssessing it..."

Acidicus spoke, "It'sss a good thing you gave the book to them. But how did you know it would work?"

Skales slithered away from the three generals then glared back at them, grinning, "Because they'll do anything to sssave Ninjago…And sssince they have the ssstone. They will find the gemssss we needed. Once they have it, we'll just ssssnatch right from them!"

He pounded his snake staff to the concrete floor, looking at general of the fangpyre, "Fangtom! Bring me one of your best sssscouts from your clan. Tell him to get ready becaussse we are going to put him in the ninjasss' ship!"

* * *

**Chapter seven: The Mountain of Thorns**

Setting up an extra mattress on the floor, placed besides Kai's sister's bed, Nya gave a little brush to clean off dusts since the mattress was hidden in the closet for quite a long time.

"There you go." Nya confirmed, putting some extra pillows and blanket on the top, "You can sleep in my room for awhile."

Cara gave a warm smile and nodded, "Thanks for letting me…though I'm really sorry I wasn't prepared for this. If I knew this would happen I could have bring my stuff along with me."

Nya waved off, "You don't have to say sorry, it's not like you expected it. And besides…I'm glad you're here. It's nice to have another girl around here."

Come to think about it, Cara did notice she was the only girl on the ship. She wondered what it feels like to be with a bunch of boys.

"So…" Cara said, "What is it like to be in this ship? I mean…what do you usually do around here?"

Nya sat on the edge of the bed, pondering about her question.

"Well let's see…" She began, "it's like you're just living in a house. We do some cleaning around here. If the boys are bored, they train in the training room just next to Sensei's room and even play video games if they want to. But whenever there's threat, I call them to inform about it. Oh! By the way…the ship's name is _Destiny's Bounty_. I helped her maintained all the time…Sometimes add more power to it. I am a blacksmith after all."

It was interesting to hear for Cara what Nya had just told her, amused even. Living in a flying ship was pretty normal for them, but for her it was fantasy come true. She remembered from her sci-fi novels she read, about a boy who travels with pirates by a flying ship, sailing across the galaxies searching for hidden clues of lost treasures.

"Destiny's Bounty…" Cara mimicked softly then smiled, "I like the name of the ship. And it seems to me you guys do a lot of things."

Nya rolled her eyes but maintained a smile, "You have no idea." She hopped out of the bed, "Come on, let's go to the bridge." Then they both walked of the bedroom.

By the time they got to the bridge, the ninjas and Sensei Wu were already there. They seemed waiting for Cara to arrive to start their mission. Sensei Wu took a sip of his tea.

He drew a sigh of contentment, "Nothing beats a warm cup of tea in the morning…" He gazed at Cara, who was still wearing her hood. He wondered why she kept it on, but sensed she was hiding behind that hood. He continued, "Are you ready for your mission?"

Cara felt a prick in her stomach. Not because she was hungry, but mixtures of nervousness and excitement. She gave a small smile and nodded, "I'm ready…"

"Very well then…" He placed his cup on the table then looked over to Nya, "Nya…"

This was the moment where Nya gives brief statements about their mission. Besides being a real good blacksmith, she has high charisma in issuing or briefing tasks before the mission starts. Nya nodded, knowing what she needed to do. "Yesterday, we saw a beam of light in Ninjago City. That light went towards the…" She took the map of Ninjago behind her pocket, walked over to the table, and placed it on the table top. It was good thing she brought the map, she knew it was always needed whenever there's new mission.

Cara flinched. When Nya mentioned the light, was she talking about the one that came from her necklace? She recalled correctly about her necklace's capability. She assumed it was definitely the same light she mentioned. Zane thought the same way, as a matter of fact, he knew it was the same the light his friend witnessed.

Cara followed behind, observing the map. Nya grabbed her pointy stick then pointed at the northern west mountains, "The Mountain of Thorns."

"Wait just a minute…you mentioned about the light you saw yesterday." Cara stated, "I think I know where it came from…"

"You do?" Nya asked with her head tilted in puzzlement.

She held her pendant on her palm, showing it to everyone. "It came from my pendant…just like you explained before. My necklace is your guide to find those gems. It must've indicated that one of the gems is in that mountain."

"She's right…" Zane responded calmly. He only said that because he was there at the scene. He knew it was the only bright light that flashed at daylight. There was no other source that did that.

Sensei Wu requested, "May I see that necklace please…" Without hesitation, Cara took off her necklace, however the pendant stopped glowing. This led her confused.

"Huh?" She puzzled.

"Why isn't it flashing?" Kai asked.

"I…I don't know…maybe if i…" Cara puts her necklace back around her neck. And to her surprise, the pendant began illuminating again. Sensei Wu was intrigued. He had realized her necklace was somehow connected to her. It only led to one thing…

"It seems your necklace only works if you wear it…" He concluded.

Cole stood up from his seat, "Well then I guess that settles it. Our first destination will be the Mountain of Thorns."

"It's going to be a long trip…so I suggest we get some food and supply before we leave." Nya suggested.

Jay beamed, "Ooh! Ooh! I'll go buy the food. I'm planning to make me some of my famous sandwich!"

Cole glowered. He hated Jay's sandwich combination. He didn't even understand why he even loved eating that kind of stuff. Last time he made a sandwich, he combined pickles and lemon—not a very good mix. There was one time he actually puked by just looking at it, and ever since it happened, he never dares trying his food.

"It's not the one with the sardines and mustard, is it?" He inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"Maaaaybeee…" Jay teased.

Nya looked to Sensei Wu, "What about you Sensei? Do you need anything for the trip?"

"Actually…" He took another sip of his tea, drinking it all up and then puts it back on the table, "I won't need of anything since I am not going with you." Flabbergasted, they all gasped at his response.

"What?! You mean you're not coming with us Sensei?" Cole protested loudly, "Where are you going this time?"

The master of spinjitsu gave a hint of smile while stroking his beard. He stood up, "My fellow ninjas…You've fought your way from the greatest challenged you have faced. You have defeated the great devourer even with the help of my _once evil brother_ without me. You have shown to me you can do it on your own.

This proves you ninjas grew strong everyday of your lives. Though, you have so much to learn through the years…I can assure you can handle this one. And besides, I am thinking of taking a vacation too…these old bones of mine needs relaxation."

Kai leaned close to Zane's ear, "I think the Sensei just wanted us out of his hair for a while."

Zane replied silently, "It does seem likely."

Touched and motivated, the four ninjas felt he was right. They had indeed fought many challenges before, even without the help of their master. But in their minds, could they do this mission without him? To them, it seemed more harder compared the rest.

"YOU'RE GOING ON A VACATION WITHOUT US?!" Jay snapped hysterically.

Kai nudged Jay's arm, "Dude, I thought you wanted a new mission? You even told that to yourself."

Jay started to breathe rapidly, getting all anxious about Sensei's getaway trip. "Not unless he's going to paradise!" He exclaimed.

Cole swung his arm from his chest, "That's enough Jay! We'll have our vacation right after this mission is done." Although he felt the same like Jay about not having some rest day, he could sense a slight doubt. He glanced back at Sensei Wu, "Right Sensei..?"

"If and only if you completed this mission successfully…for the meantime…" A loud honk came from outside the ship, assuming it was a taxi cab. "My cab is here…" He walked over to the exit, which the door wasn't fixed yet after he kicked it, but then he looked back at his students, "You must be prepared for anything no matter how strange…"

And with that, he spinjitzu himself to change his outfit into his vacation clothes. He wore an orange Hawaiian shirt with his matching khaki shorts and from his old hat turned into a straw hat. "Goodbye now…" After that, he left the bounty, leaving the people behind.

While she was listening, Cara was amazed and realized the people around her went through different challenges, different places, and different fights. Yet deep within herself, she felt envious about her new friends. She had hoped that soon hers would be similar to them instead of being locked in her home of imprisonment. Life for her was more than what she expected, and she had only seen the beginning.

She glanced at them, thinking what their reactions were when their master simply left for a vacation. It did seem unfair to just leave when there are things needed to settle at hand.

She hovered her closed fist over her mouth then cleared her throat, hoping it would give enough attention, "So…I guess that only leaves us, huh?"

Kai sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, still upset the fact their master left, "I guess so…"

The morning has passed by and there were so many things to do before they start their mission. Nya and Cara went to the supermarket to buy some food for their trip. The boys didn't let Jay come with them because who knows what other sandwiches he can make. The four ninjas went through different stores to get the rest of the stuff.

Although Jay had some stops by the Pizza Planet to play some arcade, but he didn't last long until Cole caught him, glaring at him. At the grocery store, Cara couldn't stop thinking about that white ninja. Before Nya and her left the bounty, Zane was going to introduce himself to her, however with time they in a rush, Nya dragged her away from him without her being aware of it. Then again, Cara did left a smile at him.

"Which one do you think is good with pork stew?" Nya asked holding two vegetables in her hands, an onion leek and a carrot. She had been comparing it which suits for their dinner later. She gazed at Cara for her response, but noticed she was staring at outside through the store window.

Nya followed her gaze through out the window to see Cara was looking at. There were only people outside walking to and fro, nothing really much interesting. She began to be curious of her thought in her mind.

Nya waved her hand in front of Cara, snapping her back to her senses. When Cara noticed Nya's hand, she shook her head, falling away from her thoughts about the white ninja.

"Oh..!" Cara looked back at Nya. She had recalled a small detail from her previous question, "Which vegetable mix good with pork stew?" She repeated.

Nya raised an eyebrow, "Are you ok? You seemed a little distracted?"

Cara gave a nod of confirmation, "I'm ok…I promise." She gently took the onion leek from her hand, "Pork stews taste better with onion leek." Cara chose it because she used to cook at home all the time when her aunt doesn't bring any food for lunch or dinner. But whenever her aunt brings home for supper, she always buys the same rice in a box meal over and over again.

Cara would have assume her own aunt have already known she was getting sick of it, but she didn't seem to care like she usually does.

Appreciated, Nya's lips curved into a smile, took the onion leeks, and purchased the vegetable Cara had picked.

Meanwhile, back at the Destiny's Bounty, Dr. Julien was the only left in the ship but he was sleeping in his room. He decided to have rest since he did a lot of things to repair the ship and deserves a little break. Although, this made the ship low on its guard. While the ninjas were out, the four generals had arrived by the front of the bounty, along with Snappa, one of the fangpyre's best scouts.

He was chosen to be in Skale's ideas even he has no clue why he was assigned. When Snappa was in the front, Fangtom shoved him into the ship with his face landed first to the wooden floors.

Skales ordered, "You're asssssignment will be hiding in thisss ssship! You will be our guide sssso that we'll know the ninjassss' location and the gemssss…"

Fangtom threw him a walkie-talkie, "Make ssssure you do not get ssspotted by the ninjasss…" He glared, "Or elsssse…"

Snappa gulped nervously, "Yesss general…"

The four serpentine generals slithered away into hiding before their nemesis arrives. The question remained in Snappa's thought as he glanced around the deck. Where will he hide?

It was nine thirty pm in the evening. Everyone was settled comfortably in the dinning area with their Pork stew steamily hot and lavishly prepared. The only person who would cook like that was Zane, for it was his night to cook.

Slurping the stew down his throat, Kai puts his bowl down as he released a satisfying sigh.

"Now that's good stuff!" He complimented, "I think I'm going to have another round!"

Jay wiped off his mouth, cleaning away bits of food, "Me too!"

Cole had just finished his stew then raised his hand, "Me three!

Nya chuckled, finding the boys funny at their gestures, "Wow…you guys are sure hungry!"

Cara supped hers down to the last drop, savoring its unique flavor in the stew.

She let out a small moan, "Mmmm…that tastes so delicious!" Zane was just sitting right next to Kai and he smiled at her compliment.

He was about to thank her but before he could say it, Kai interrupted. "So…what's your name by the way? I haven't heard anything from you yet…" He asked.

Cara's eyes went wider than usual. She couldn't believe she hasn't introduced herself to the others ever since she got in the ship. It was quite embarrassing if she thought about it.

She stifled into a giggle, "Oops! I haven't, have I?" Cara took a deep breath then spoke…

"My name is Cara by the way. I just lived near Ninjago City…there's actually a small town right beside it." She rubbed the back of her neck, feeling a little embarrassed at the fact she didn't tell her name earlier, "I'm really sorry I haven't introduce myself earlier…It's was so silly of me."

Nya shook her head, "No problem, Cara…although…" She had wanted to ask why Cara always kept her hood on. "If you don't mind…can you put your hood down for awhile, you don't need to wear it everyday, you know?"

_Uh oh._ This was not good for Cara. She would feel ashamed to show her physical self in front of everyone. But worst of all, her fear being looked at as if she was a freak, which she really does of herself. She grew another lump in her through as she tries to swallow it but couldn't. Nervousness was taking over her at the same time fear. It may not be noticeable from Nya, Kai, Jay, and Cole, about her emotions, but Zane could sense it.

"Don't be shy!" Nya asserted positively.

Cara quickly stood up, walking away from the table, "No…no…you don't understand…I need to wear my hood on…it's…uhmm allergy thing."

"Aw c'mon…it's just for a short time. We just want to see you." Jay said, reaching for her hood.

Before Cara could back away further from Jay's reach, he had already flipped her hood back, revealing her true face…

Everyone in the room, except Zane, gasped at her features. There was an awful silence around them. Cara wasn't sure if their countenance was a good thing or a bad thing, but she had indeed reminisced that those were the expressions of the children who tormented her.

Jay was the most startled one. He couldn't stop starting at her long white hair. He started to think if it was only an old woman's wig or she just dyed it with white. Whatever of those two, he figured if it was normal for a young lady like her to have that kind of color.

"Aah…you're hair looks…looks…" He searched around, mustering all excuses he can find in the room. But then, he saw Zane with his white civilian garments.

He pointed his hand to Zane, "It matches his uniform…" He chuckled lousily, "Hehehe…hehe."

Terrified, Cara just didn't know what to do or to react, but the only thing in her mind was to leave the room…

She frowned as she made an excuse, "Uhmm…I'll just go outside and have some fresh air…" Once she was out, Nya and the four ninjas glared down at Jay. Cole smacked the back of Jay's head, knowing what he said offended their new friend, "You just had to have a big mouth!"

Whereas for Zane, he had no time lecturing Jay's behavior, instead he stood up and then chased after Cara. Somehow he felt concerned about her. Outside the room, Cara wasn't on the deck. He next thought to look below the ship floor. He strode down the stairs and reached the hallway. He finally saw her with her back turned and barely sniffling.

Zane took a deep breath and approached her. "Are you alright?"

That voice…it was familiar for Cara to hear it again. As a matter of fact, it was so many times she heard of that question. She knew it came from the white ninja, who she didn't know his name yet.

She turned around, seeing him face to face and saw concern in his eyes.

"I'm…alright. Don't worry about it…" Cara spoke softly then looked away, "It's really nothing…"

Zane didn't know what to say to that one. He knew she was hiding her issues behind those pale blue eyes, judging the way she looked away. However, he did know how to lighten her a little bit.

He took an ounce of breath then said, "You know…we haven't introduced properly at the book store."

Cara's skin prickled. She was already silly for not introducing herself to the others, but now she couldn't agree more when he mentioned it. She slowly gazed back to him, "Come to think about it…" She shook her head, "I don't think we haven't."

When she looked at him, she managed to curve her frown into a smile. For some reason, it helped her forget about her whole de' ja vu. The ninja of ice bowed his head as his hands fisted over his chest, "My name is Zane. I am the ninja of ice."

Cara was impressed by his gesture and she wasn't surprise after he had said he was the ninja of ice. After all, she recalled his abilities. She read about ways of spinjitsu starting from how they bow to each other. She wanted to mimicked him, but felt shy to do it and might fail her first attempt. Instead, she reached out her hand for a hand shake, without realizing it was the same hand she felt that shock.

"My name is Cara." She said.

Zane was able to give a hint of smile, now that they finally knew each other. As soon as he held her hand, the same electric sensation sparked once more as they both pulled their hands away, stung from the feeling.

"Ow!" They both winced, rubbing their palm of their hands.

_"It happened again! Why is this happening?" _ She thought. A second or so, they managed to look back at each other. Whenever Zane looks at her, his eyes couldn't blink as if they were locked. His artificial heart was beating fast. And it was funny too as he thought about it. He wasn't even running to make his heart felt that way.

Cara blushed immensely from the way he touched her hand before their hands got electrocuted. It felt the same warmth she touched from the sunlight back at her home.

They stared at one another for about a minute, drifting as they wonder. While staring at each other, Cara had remembered something…something she would have say before boarding the ship.

She looked down shyly, stroking her hand against her left arm. "You know…" she began, "I didn't get the chance to say thank you for saving me back there…" Gazing back at him, Cara gave him her gentle smile of appreciation, "So…thank you."

Flattered, Zane nodded in thanks, "You're welcome. I was only trying to _protect _you."

That word made her blush more. But Cara tried to keep it for herself. She didn't want to look weird right in front of him. Yet, her heart had the same rapid beat when she first saw him.

Quietness began to engulf the two. It was also awkward, knowing both just stood looking at one another, but it wasn't the bad kind either.

Cara gently cleared her throat, "It's…really getting late…I should go to bed."

Zane glanced to his left, where the wall clock was hung. The clock pointed it was ten in the evening. When he looked back at Cara again, he felt his mechanical heart had been struck over her unique beauty. The way he did, he gazed at her like it was the first time he saw her along with the rest of his _malfunctions. _He couldn't move. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't blink. In other terms, he was overwhelmed, and neither of all of these things he could not understand why it was happening to him.

Though, it was ashamed she couldn't stay longer. "Oh…" He spoke, "I guess this is good night then."

Cara noticed the way with his eyes. "I guess it is…" She replied as tucked her hair behind her ear, "Good night…Zane."

She began to walk towards Nya's room just right along the hallway. Once she stood in front of the door, she turned to look at him once more, smiled at him and then she walked inside. After that, she carefully closed the door, turned around, then leaned against the door. She released a sight of contentment and took out her glowing pendant underneath her jacket.

"Zane…" She repeated softly, gazing down at her necklace. Now that she knew his name, she was more curious to know about him. She didn't know why and wasn't sure…but she felt a sort of connection between the two of them. The question was…what connection?

Walking back to the dining area, Zane couldn't stop smiling as he thought about her. The smile she gave made him feel bliss, although he didn't seem to answer nor does he understand the things he felt when with her. It was queer for him to feel that way. As a matter of fact it was the first time in his events to occur in front of a female friend. He began to wonder if it was normal for him to do so, if yes, how come he didn't feel the same way toward Nya but with Cara.

If no, there must be something wrong in his system that made him act so different towards Cara. Still, he pondered it wasn't in the negative side.

He stopped in front of the door then slides it open. His smile vanished when he saw nobody was inside the room anymore, yet their bowls and plates were left on the table dirty. It seemed his friends left him for washing the dishes duty.

He sighed, "Of course…"

* * *

The next day, Cara was still in her bed sleeping cozily, until she felt the ship bumped into something hard as Nya's red jade bracelet fell off the small table just behind her. It landed on the top of her head, making her to pounce up rubbing her head. "Ouch…"

She picked up the bracelet and gave it a minute look of its features then put it back where it was placed. She glanced around the room, wanted to know if Nya was still in it, but she wasn't there. Then she looked to the window across Nya's bed and noticed the clouds were moving faster than usual.

She pushed her blanket aside, stood up, and walked towards the door. In the hallway, it was quiet. She wanted to check the room to see if they were still asleep, but didn't bother to do so because she didn't want them to think she was stalking them. Instead, she proceeded to the upper deck where the bridge was held. In the matter of time she reached the upper floor, she was utterly surprised the ship was already airborne!

"Whoa…" She strolled further to the center, glancing around while clouds brushed on her skin and flock of birds soaring through the skies with a perfect V-formation. The wind swiftly swooshed down to her, flinging her white long hair. Then, she walked towards the balcony. The Destiny's bounty was thousand feet high above the ground and was no longer in Ninjago City.

But she could see still the buildings under her that looked like the size of a finger nail and the cars moving around like ants. She was away from her horrid home…she knew there was no turning back.

"Enjoying the view?" A familiar tone of voice was heard behind. Startled, Cara quickly swiveled, seeing the white ninja standing before her.

"I'm very sorry…I didn't mean to startle you…" Zane replied, "Again."

Cara smiled calmly, "It's ok…Good morning by the way."

The ninja of ice smiled back, "Good morning too my friend."

She cupped her hand behind her neck, feeling shy all of a sudden, "So…where is everyone?"

"They're in the bridge as usual. Every morning we go there for another briefing about the mission in hand. Do you want to go there and see them?" When Zane made that last statement, Cara's stomach tightened. She was still afraid and uncomfortable to show herself to everyone, especially those people who gave her _the stare _last night. Her eyes were half closed of discomfort and her lips shifted into a frown.

Zane sensed the same feeling again around her. He knew she was still affected of what happened last night. But would he just let her be? No… He was wiling to help her just so she could get along with his brothers and Nya.

"If you're still afraid from last night…" He stretched out his hand to her, "I'm here to help you…"

Cara's heart could burst out and a pinkish blush appeared on her cheeks! She have never encountered in such nice gesture. As matter of fact no one has said that to her in her entire living, probably because she was stuck inside her house of solitude with no one to be with except Snow and her aunt. But still, she could have at least heard that kind of words from her aunt which she doubt she will.

"Y-you will?" She asked, not believing she heard that correctly. Zane nodded in confirmation. She gazed at his hand that was reached out for her, waiting for her to hold. She slowly reached her right hand out, and then soon her hand was holding his. That warmth again…Cara felt it from him and Zane felt it from her. For some reason, whenever she was with him, she can be herself whatever she likes…and safe. Next, they started walking towards the bridge, hand in hand. While Zane was looking in his way, Cara secretly gazed at him with full of wonders and questions. How come he was the only one who didn't look at her like she was a freak?

Once stood by the entrance of the bridge, Cara's stomach tightened even more. She slowly backed away, feeling that regret of coming to the bridge. She lets go of Zane's hand, "I—I don't think I can do this…"

Zane felt that released. He frowned, "Cara…I know you're still uncomfortable around with them…"He gave a small smile, telling things would be fine, "If you will get to know them better. I can assure you'll be part of our group…Just give them one more chance."

Cara thought about he said. He was right though…everyone deserves a second chance, even if it means sometimes it hurts the first time. She sighed unchallenged, "You're right…Maybe I should."

Cara took another deep breath, mustering all that courage she needed to face her past then took the first step inside the bridge as Zane followed behind. Nya and the three were already inside. They have noticed Cara was in the room as well without her hood covering her face. Deep down, they were still surprised the way she looked, but today, they learned to accept it.

It was that awful silence again just like last night…Until Nya broke it while she approached her, with an expression of her sympathy.

"Good morning Cara…" She said, "About last night…"

"We're really sorry about what happened…"Cole interrupted to finish Nya's sentence.

Kai added, "And just to prove we're sorry…" He shoved Jay forward, for it was his turn to apologize. Last night after Cara left the room, they all felt bad by the way they stared at her.

It was obvious it was rude to stare to someone they had just met, especially when that someone was completely different from the rest.

Jay felt that ache on his back but looked at Cara. "I'm really…really…sorry too. You know…about your white hair and everything…I just wanted to say I am going to take it all back."

All those words made Cara thought about what Zane mentioned. Maybe he was indeed right. She was overwhelmed and glad they apologized. They were not like the people she met before.

Her lips curved into her sweet smile. "I forgive you guys…"

Everyone in the room grinned, knowing things were fine again and they can finally breathe off their guilt. Same thing with Cara, she can finally have that pain in her chest release.

"So…" she began, "Are we getting close to that destination you were talking about?"

"You mean the Mountain of Thorns? Nya answered, "We're still in two hour travel but if we…" She checked her wrist, where she wore her bracelet, her red jade bracelet was not just an ordinary ornament, but it was a device to everything she needed to activate. Unfortunately, she had left it in her room. "Huh…I guess I forgot to wear my bracelet this morning."

"I know where it is…" Cara replied, "If you want, I'll go get it for you." She volunteered because she knew where it was and the bump to prove it. Turning around to the door, she exited the bridge to get Nya's bracelet.

"Thank you!" Nya exclaimed.

She strolled down the stairs, leading to the same hallway where all the rooms were held. Just then, Cara instantly paused when she saw a man wearing a white coat came walking around groping against the wall then to the floors as he muttered about his lost glasses. Dr. Julien just woke up from his slumber.

"Oh dear…where did I put my glasses..?" He questioned, patting the floor. Cara was in total shock at his sudden appearance. She had never met him before in the ship. Strange…she wondered why her friends never mentioned about him. But as for Dr. Julien, he had a long rest after he repaired the ship. He did deserve to have a break since he is an old timer. Then, just when she was about to speak to him, she saw his glasses lying right beside her feet. She figured it must've belonged to him. So, she bends to pick it up and gave it a little wipe to clear the lenses. By the time she was done, Dr. Julien managed to stand up, scratching the top of his hair, wondering where his glasses could possibly be.

"Pardon me…" Cara pardoned gently.

"Wh-Who's there? Is that you Nya? You're voice seem different today." Dr. Julien responded.

"Well…I'm not exactly Nya…but." She walked towards him, holding the glasses over her chest then stretched it out to put the glasses back. Once 's glasses were on, he gave it a little adjustment to fit the framing over his eyes. When his vision got cleared, he was surprise to see a new person standing in front of him.

He blinked couple of times then smiled as his greet. He chuckled, "Why hello there. I haven't seen you around here."

Strange…usually when everyone looks at her, they would stare at her in disgust, but from him, he looked at her as if she was an ordinary being, which she really didn't mind.

"Maybe because we haven't met…" Cara gestured her hand for a hand shake, "My name is Cara…and it's kind of a long story how I got here."

Dr. Julien shook Cara's hand, "Nice to meet you Cara… My name is Dr. Julien and thank you for returning my glasses. I sort of slipped when I got out from my room. I can be clumsy sometimes." He released her hand and continued, "You've met the others I presumed."

She nodded, "I have and as a matter of fact I was sort of getting something from Nya's room…if you don't mind I'll just…"

The inventor chuckled more, waving off his hands, "Oh please! By all means Cara. We'll see each other soon again. It was nice meeting you."

And with that, Cara left the hallway then entered to Nya's bedroom to get her bracelet. Dr. Julien however, found her rather interesting with the way she looked. Her features were not like any other.

"Unique…very unique." He whispered.

Several minutes later, Cara went back to the bridge with Nya's bracelet in her hand. After she gave it to her, the boys decided to give her a tour around the bounty. She had only seen the bridge, the kitchen, the deck, and the lower deck, but never the interesting part of Destiny's Bounty. This was also an opportunity for her to get to know the ninjas. Cole guided her to his gym area, where he usually does his intense lifting exercises with his huge barbells.

Jay introduced her to his sparring-bot he invented to help them train better. Although when he tried to switch it on for a demonstration, it led his invention chased after him, swinging its weapons against him.

Kai toured Cara to the training room. From all she had seen, the training facility was she found intriguing. There were so many different kinds of training equipment, and she was surprised she could name most of them.

"This is the last part of our tour. Thank you for using Kai Travel express!" Kai announced proudly. Impressed, Cara applauded him…at least he deserves it. She ventured more inside the training facilities, poking and sometimes she would give a small punch on the dummies.

"This place is awesome." She complimented "It kind of reminds me of a dojo though."

Kai leaned sideways against the wooden pole as his arms folded across his chest, "Actually we called it a dojo since our first dojo got burned down by those stupid snakes."

"Oh…I'm really sorry to hear that…" She said with sympathy.

He shrugged, "Nah! It's not really a big deal about it. What's most important we found a new home…" He pressed his hand over the carved wood wall, "Good thing Zane managed to find this ship or else we wouldn't have a home…"

Cara's eyes widened, "Zane? He found this ship?" She took another round glancing all about the ship. While she was having her tour, she realized the architecture of the ship was quite familiar to her. She once read from the book called _Pirates of Ninjago. _The book consisted of history about pirates with their notorious ship, traveling around through vast seas to oceans.

She looked back at Kai, "To be honest…your ship is quite familiar to me. The design…the shape…the architecture…they're all look the same from the book I used to read, except…the whole booster rockets."

Kai raised his scarred eyebrow, "Really?"

"It is." She confirmed, "Though…I'm trying to recall the captain that owned the ship…" She tapped her finger on her chin while she looked up, trying to recall her memory, "Uhmm…I think the captain's name is Sotto…" She snapped her finger, "That's it! It's Captain Sotto!"

Kai stiffened. He knew captain Sotto, as a matter of fact he used to fight against him for stealing Destiny's Bounty away from them, even though he was the previous owner. And he had raced against him with his three brothers in the _Ninjaball Run._

"It would be so nice to meet with him from history. I read about him that he was the most famous pirate that roamed Ninjago…" Cara stated, walking towards the exit of the training room.

"Trust me…it's better if you don't." Kai muttered. Suddenly, before Cara and Kai could exit the room, the speakers in the corner of the wall were turned on, projecting Nya's voice from the bridge.

**_"Attention everyone! We're almost near the Mountain of Thorns. So better get yourselves over here!"_**

_ "We're there already?" _Cara thought.

"Well…" Kai began, "You heard my sis." He glanced at Cara with determination, "Are you ready?"

This was it…Could she be able to help the ninjas of finding the gems of the underworld? Cara's skin felt frozen. Her stomach twisted with nervousness whereas her body stiffened. But from all of it, she took the deepest breath she could muster and threw all those negativity aside then spoke, "I'm ready."

The ninja of fire smirked confidently, "Then let's go!"

* * *

The four ninjas, Cara, and Nya were all gathered in the bridge, looking out through huge oval bay window in front of them. Outside, the skies was different compared from what they came from. The clouds were grey and the skies were gloomy as if it was going to rain. The tall mountains stood majestic yet smothered by thick fogs, making harder for them see what lies beneath.

"So…this is the Mountains of Thorns?" Cole said, observing the mountains.

"How do we even know where the first gem is in there? The pendant just pointed where the first location…but was there any specific place?" Jay questioned desperately.

Just in time, Cara felt her pendant was getting warm…there was a slight heat from its glow. She pulled her necklace out from underneath her jacket, puzzling all about it. When she did, she noticed the light was getting brighter than usual.

"Guys, look at this." She lifted the pendant, showing it to everyone. All of them looked at her glowing pendant. They were intrigued but puzzled at the same time.

"It's glowing brighter..."Nya observed, "But what does it mean?"

Cara pondered for awhile as she gazed at her glowing pendant, studying it until…

"Wait a minute…"She said, "What if it's like one of those metal detectors? When the device beeps louder it means the object is getting closer which means…"

Zane's eyes went wide, realizing as he gets the idea, "Which means the pendant glows brighter when the gems are getting nearer." Cara and Zane both exchanged glances, knowing they made quite a point of view.

Kai responded, "Then that makes us easier to find the first one." He looked over to his sister, "Nya, can you land the ship somewhere safe so we can get started."

Nya rotated the helm, turning whole ship to the west, "I'm way ahead of you on that one…"

After the ship landed near a Cliffside, floating. Cole threw the anchor down to the ground so that the ship would be still. The four ninjas and most importantly Cara, managed to climb down the wedge to the misty boundaries of the mountain.

"I wonder why it's called Mountain of thorns." Jay asked, strolling further to the foggy path. Just then, right after he had asked that, his right foot stepped on a sharp rock that shaped like a rose thorn. "OUCH!" He cried loudly while he picked his foot up, checking if there was a cut.

"Does that answer your question, point Dexter?" Cole teased, raising his eyebrow.

Cara bent down, picking up the soil from the ground. She let it slipped through her hand as she studied the texture of the soil. It was unusual for dirt to be grey and really…really dry.

"Strange…this doesn't look like dirt to me…" She replied, "It looks like more of a…" She rubbed it between her fingers and noticed it smudge like dry paint. That's when she realized it wasn't really dirt it was…

"Ashes…" She continued, "This Mountain must be a volcano before...right after it erupted." She stood up, looking around her environment then only to discover the entire mountain is covered by more ashes.

Now that everyone has gathered, it was time to make Cole his leadership skills to begin.

"ALRIGHT!" He began then looked at everyone. He decided to make Cara to lead the way since her necklace glow brighter against the thick fog. It will be served as their light. "Cara, you lead the way. The rest… we follow behind her. Any questions?"

"None." The four replied in unison.

Cole gave a nod, "Good." He turned around then swung his arm forward, "Then let's move!"

With that, they began venturing through the misty-thorny pathway of the Mountain.

"This is really getting boring…" Jay complained then snapped, thinking of a way to entertain them, "I know! I'll tell some snake jokes I just came up with…I mean it's not like they're here anyway!"

"Jay, we're on a mission…we don't have time to listen to your stupid jokes!" Kai protested.

"Hey! It wouldn't be a mission without some laughter along the way." Jay gazed back at Cara, "Right Cara?"

Cara wasn't even sure about his theory. "Uhmmm…I guess?" she replied unsure.

Jay grinned, "See! Even she agrees." He eyes looked up, wondering what jokes he should start, "Now…where should I start…"

In the meantime, back at the Bounty, just below the lower deck, and inside the food storage area, Snappa poked his head out behind the closet while munching some cookies he found inside. He brought out his walkie-talkie and pressed the button, communicating the generals.

"Come in General Skalessss…" He hissed, "I have good newssss for you."

On the other line, Skales and the three generals were riding inside the rattle copter and had just received Snappa's call.

Skales answered, "What issss it?

Snappa stepped out from the closet but fell down because his feet were not even near the floor. Skales could even hear the loud thud from his side. "WELL?! WHAT ISSS IT?!" He yelled angrily.

Immediately, Snappa picked up the walkie-talkie, "The ninjasss have arrived general! The place isss called Mountain of Thornssss…" He grabbed another bite of his cookie, "I just…heard talking…about it". He continuously kept chewing, savoring the taste, "Yummy…."

Skales heard everything then shook his head in disappointment, regarding Snappa's stupidity.

"We're on our way!" He exclaimed as the rattle copter increased its speed.

* * *

**"**Does Jay usually talk this much during a mission?" Cara questioned, asking Zane. Before Zane could even answer her, Cole interrupted when he heard her question, "Oh please! Even we're not even in a mission, he talks like that everyday!" There was a devilish eye in his look, gazing at Jay, "Maybe if I hit his throat again…"

Indeed, it has been hours since they began walking on the thorny mountain and Jay never stopped telling his jokes, although most of them were corny to them but funny to him. Not to mention he had been laughing at his own jokes louder than Cole's snore, if he even does that.

Kai on the other hand, covered his ears real tight, not even letting Jay's voice enter into his brain. He too, got frustrated of him…actually most of them.

"Are we even getting closer?!" Kai demanded irately.

Without warning, Cara's pendant shined bright twice than the first one while it flashed faster, just in time too!

She grinned, "I think we are…look!" She turned around, facing everyone. All of them beamed when they saw her necklace changed its pace, indicating they are getting closer.

"It must be straight ahead." Cole announced, "Come on!"

And so, they all kept running and running forward through the thick fog until they noticed the mist was getting thinner and thinner by the minute.

Once it all faded out, a dark cavern appeared right in front of their eyes along with some broken cart tracks and some trailers as well. There were few tall and sharp stalactites surrounded the entrance of the cave which made it look like a mouth of an animal…with razor sharp teeth that is.

It seemed there was an abandoned mine in the mountain. Cara wondered what were the miners were mining for. Later, her pendant blinked faster than before. She pointed her finger towards the dark cave, "It must inside that cavern."

The ninjas followed where she indicated, walking towards a mysterious cave. Jay couldn't shake the feeling about the whole place was haunted. He kept glancing around, looking out for creatures or even ghost that lurks within the mountains. With all of his eyes opened, he caught a glimpse of a cart four meters away from him.

Somehow, it caught his attention as his curiosity unleashed. He stopped then went to the cart. As he was getting closer and closer, he could barely see the first half empty, but when he was just inches away, he saw human bones at the bottom of the container!

"Aaah!" He backed three steps away and gulped, "Something tells me we're not supposed to be here…"

"Which is a perfect place to hide the gem…and my early assessment tells me the rest would be the same." Zane was already behind Jay, without making the slightest Jay heard his voice, he got even more terrified because of him just appearing from no where. He was so scared he even fell to his back. Cole noticed Zane and Jay weren't in the group anymore. He searched then saw them they were way behind.

"Will you two stop goofing around and get over here!" Cole ordered, loudly.

Cara stood at the center of the entrance, staring through the dark wonders of the cave. She couldn't help but to think what lies inside, but for some reason she wasn't afraid.

"Don't be afraid. We got your back." Kai asserted, who was just behind her.

"I'm not…" She muttered under her breath as she took the first step inside the cavern. Kai followed behind her then Cole and the two came second. They were lucky Cara's necklace was used as a lamp to see their path through the tunnel. While venturing the cave, Jay looked up and saw the ceiling was darker than night, until he witnessed there were red glowing eyes opened, staring down at him. He swallowed again out of fear.

Few minutes later, they saw a dim light at the end of the tunnel.

"Come on!" Cara exclaimed, running towards the light. When she was getting nearer to the light so does her necklace shined ever brighter. There was no doubt the first gem was in there. When they finally managed to reach the end of it, all of them were surprised what lies before them.

"Wow…" She said, dazzled. The entire cavern was full of stones known as _Lapis Lazuli._

Its deep blue color gleam the entire place, shedding some dim light. There were also other tunnels with rail tracks leading to another unknown passage and some empty carts.

It all made sense to them, the people who used to mine, were getting the stones for resources or possibly greed… But why was it abandon?

"Whoa! This place is _amazing..!_" Jay's voice echoed loudly, bouncing off through the cave.

**Whoa! This place is** **Amazing..! ****Amazing..!**** Amazing..!**

Impressed, Jay smirked, intending to do another. He was plunging to his enjoyment. He bellowed, "Jay is _awesome, talented, and handsome!"_

**Jay is Awesome..! Talented..! Handsome..! ****Handsome..! ****Handsome..!**

Kai however, walked towards him then clang his hand over to his shoulder. "What about this..?"

He cupped his hands on the side of his mouth then shouted, "Jay has a big mouth and couldn't beat my high _score!_"

**Jay has a big mouth and couldn't beat my high SCORE..! ****SCORE..! ****SCORE..!**

He just had to rub it on Jay's face… Cole joined in, just to make Jay feel a little bothered.

"Jay couldn't kiss Nya in _public!_" He yelled, mocking.

**Jay couldn't kiss Nya in PUBLIC..! ****Public..! ****Public..!**

_Public. _The word terribly echoed in Jay's mind. He did it once before when he and Nya had a date in the restaurant. But only because he didn't want to let Nya feel sad about his time management and fan girls chasing after him, making Nya see in a different perspective. Still, he wasn't even sure if he could do it again.

He blushed by Cole's response. Not in flattering way, but humiliation. He turned against Cole to strongly convince him that he did kissed Nya in public. "Just to let you know I—!"

Of course, he wasn't able to complete his sentence…because Nya's brother, Kai, was just beside Cole. And he has that uncomfortable feeling telling something that involves his relationship with Nya. Instead, he just slouched as he crossed his arms over his chest, like a child couldn't get what he wants.

"I can kiss Nya in public…" He murmured under his breath. In the meantime, while the boys were enjoying their moment with Jay's love life. For Zane, he didn't intend to join with his brothers only because there are tasks in hand that needed to be done. But there was a part of him that he didn't quite understand Jay.

He noticed Jay flushed when Cole had mentioned the word public. He figured he was embarrassed…but why would Jay feel embarrass to kiss Nya in public was the question printed in his computerized mind. Things like this he still couldn't understand.

However, the events that occurred to him whenever his with Cara or what he called _malfunctions_ were something he was more not used to.

Cara watched them for a few minutes, shaking her head from their silliness, yet she maintained her smile. "_Boys will be boys…" She thought. _

She went back looking at the stones, observing it. She found its luster beautiful, especially with its blue color. She frowned about her pale blue eyes, wondering if they were as beautiful as the stones. But she completely doubts it…not when the color is in her eyes and people judgmentally thought there were ugly marbles stuck in her eye sockets or blind. She shook the thought away and proceeded back of searching the gem. Since, Zane was the closest to her, she turned to him and ask, "Zane…do you recall what the first gem looked like?"

Zane caught her attention. When he turned around at her, he was astonished at the sight before him. Cara didn't know, but from the stone's bright luster, its sparkling light made her eye's gleamed gorgeously in that pale blue color and her hair glow ever so white like snow. And again, his eyes widened, dazzled by her beauty and his mechanical lungs couldn't let air pass through. Wasn't he allowed to breathe? He didn't even realize he froze, staring at her. But a minute later, he shook his head and took a deep breath so he could let that air in.

_"What's has happened to me..? That was new…" _He thought curiously, "_Perhaps I should see my father about this."_

Then, he remembered Cara was asking something. Good thing he still remembers…He began walking towards her.

"I believe the first gem is red and cylindrical shape." He answered calmly, based from his memory database.

"Hmmm…" Cara began, "I guess that wouldn't be so hard to look for since all of the stones here are blue." For what Zane knew while he was also unnoticeably gazing at her, he felt his artificial heart again skipping a beat. Those eyes of that white haired girl he just met from the book store compelled him somehow. After Cara spoke, there were words that slipped through Zane's tongue without even completely thinking about it… he was lost from her eyes.

"Just like your eyes…" He said dazedly. Cara's eyes went wider than usual. She was unsure if she heard that correctly but her ears felt they were fine. "Wh-what was that, Zane?" She asked.

The nindroid's eye's shuts right open after he had realized what came from his mouth. And he never felt so embarrassed! He also felt his cheeks were heating up. Could it be he was blushing from embarrassment like Jay did? But he also felt it was far from that.

Zane stuttered, "I—I…mean your…your…" He thought of some words he could muster then finally he spoke, "Your pendant…just like your pendant." After that, he smiled lousily, rubbing the back of his head as if it cracked open. Cara cocked her head in puzzlement, judging from the way Zane acted, but it did make sense about her pendant being blue like the stones around them.

"Oh…" She said, "I guess that's true…" Deep in her mind, she sworn she had heard the word _eyes._

It was awfully strange for the ninja of ice to lose his coolness like that. Usually he always maintained himself above pressure…but it seemed something made his match.

All of a sudden, Cara's pendant blinked faster and faster again until it slowly starts to lose its glow then fades…but not a single minute, it shoots out another ray of light, heading towards the center of the ground surrounded by tall but bigger _Lapis lazuli._

She gasped, "It must be buried over there!" They both ran towards the spot, where her necklace led. Kneeled down, Cara began digging her hands through the cold dirt, but found it very struggling when the ground was too hard to dig. She looked around, hoping she could find a shovel since they are in a mine. Zane did the same, searching every area he sees.

Not a minute or so, he was lucky enough he saw a skeleton lying on the ground, holding a shovel in his bony hand. He quickly went to the skeleton and grabbed the shovel.

Although he didn't quite expect when he snatched the shovel, it would also mean the arm that comes along with it. With that, he just shook the shovel until the arm finally came off. Once he came back to Cara, he thrusts the shovel's head deep into the ground then applied his foot to it just to add more force. And then, he began digging his way to the gem while tossing the dirt aside.

He kept digging and digging when finally he heard the shovel clanked, it must've hit against something hard. Cara heard it as she beamed, knowing it must be the gem they were looking for. The sound echoed and made the three caught by its attention.

"What was that?" Cole asked. He had realized he was goofing around with Jay and Kai too much that he forgotten they had a mission to deal with.

It was also unlike of him to do…he was the team leader. But that's what happened when insulting Jay for his own good. He swung around, searching for Zane and Cara, but found them by the center, especially when he noticed Zane was digging. He assumed they must've found the first gem of the underworld.

Cara had dug her nails through the dirt, helping Zane to easily recover the stone. She felt some sort of container underneath her palm. "I think I got it…" she said, pulling the container out. Zane threw the shovel to the side then held the other part of the thing. By the time Cole and the two arrived, Zane and Cara managed to unearth the object. It was a small wooden chest with no key hole almost it looked like a simple jewelry box.

This was the part they were waiting for…as Cara carefully opens the chest while the others were anticipating. A red glowing light peered through the gaps. Then, when Cara couldn't wait much longer she fully opens the chest and saw a red cylindrical gem…The first gem of the underworld has finally in their grasp.

"I can't believe it…we found it…" She proclaimed then smiled, "We found it!"

Cole glowered, "Technically…you and Zane found it…we feel kind' a bad not helping around…" But despite from all this, he managed to smile, knowing they have it.

"Technically…if it weren't for Cara…we wouldn't be able to find the gem." Zane added sincerely, looking at Cara.

Cara was surprised when he mentioned that. She never felt appreciated in her life before, not when her aunt always discourages her, a lot. She didn't respond back but there was one thing she could give Zane, and that was to show her sweet smile.

Jay grabbed the chest and then lifted it proudly above his head, "Time to party!" And just to think they could take home the prize, out of the blue, someone had swung by a rope and swiped the chest from Jay's hands. "Wait…WHAT!?" He cried.

In that moment, it was Chokun, one of the constrictai members who stole the chest from the ninja.

He boasted while he was still swinging above, "HAH! YOU SHOULD HAVE SSSEEN YOUR—OOF!" His face crashed against a stalactite, "Faces…"

Jokes on him…

He lets go of the chest then fell back to the ground. There was an opportunity again for the heroes. "Quick! Grab the chest!" Cole commanded. Cara dashed out to the chest then held it tight in her hands. But before she could get back to the ninjas, another snake had appeared in front of her. It wasn't just an ordinary associate. It was Acidicus, General of the Venomari tribe and he had just spit his deadly venom to Cara. Luckily, she ducked just in time as the venom smeared on the stone.

"Whoa…that is one big snake!" She exclaimed, walking away from the monster. "Don't forget he's ugly too!" Kai flipped in midair over Cara then smacked his feet against the general's snout. Cara had noticed the snake was different compared from the one she encountered back at the city. This one had a long tail and a strange black chain wearing around his wrists.

"Cara get away from them!" Zane warned loudly. Suddenly, a pair of hands emerged from the ground held Cara by the ankle, preventing her to escape. Startled, she lost her balance and fell to her back as the chest slipped from her hands, furthering away. She lay on the cold ground, seeing more snakes coming out from the other tunnels. "That is a lot of snakes…"

Not only there was one constrictai holding Cara down, but few more had surfaced, surrounding Cole, Jay, and Zane.

Jay wore his hood on and brought his elemental blade of lightning, "They just had to show up and ruin the party!" Cole and Zane pulled their hoods out along with their weapons. It looks like they will be facing another fight against the serpentine. Though right now, Zane's main concern is getting Cara from the constrictai.

Soon, the hands were clutching Cara's ankle revealed more of it when its head popped out from the dirt. Its eyes glared at her as if he was going to eat her. She wriggled her legs, trying to escape from his grip. Because of her legs squirming, it began to lose the snake's grip around her ankles. When one of his hands let go, Cara had the chance to kick him to his eye, "Let me go!"

"Ouch!" He winced in pain, rubbing his left eye. As soon as Cara stood up, behind her, the snake achieved to recover, pulling himself out from the ground and ready to grab her by the neck. However, Zane managed to clutch him on the shoulder, turned him around to face him, then he jabbed him to an end. The constrictai was knocked away to the ground, unconscious.

Zane looked at Cara, checking if she was hurt, "Are you alright, Cara?" That question she heard once again, made her ever so safe with him. She was thankful he came for her aid.

She nodded in confirmation, "I'm alright…" Her eye's widened, realizing the chest that was once in her hands was gone, "Wait!"

She darted at her left, where she last seen the chest went to, "The chest!"

The wooden container landed near a heap of bones. When Cara had retrieved it, there was certain idea that came to her mind…

Meanwhile, the boys were in for another battle. They bravely fought their way while they spinjitzu to defeat them. But the more they try, more snakes kept coming in.

"This should be the right time to come up with a plan, Cole!" Jay dodged the fangpyre's striking fist, and held it tight as he twisted it until he tossed the snake into the empty cart. Cole used his spinjitzu to take three fangpyres down. "It would be easier to come up with a plan if these snake breaths didn't keep showing up!" He protested.

Cole and Jay were busy fighting both different serpentine tribes. Kai was having a combat with Acidicus. Zane kept Cara behind him to protect her from the constrictais while he spinjitzu to defeat them. Time was at the essence. More and more enemies kept coming in their way, desperate to have the gem. Cara thought that maybe one of the tunnels could lead them outside since she noticed one of the snakes had already came in using it.

"Which one…which one…." She said, glancing which tunnels to choose. There was one tunnel that caught her eyes right next to the empty carts, all bundled up in one spot. She had a hunch it could be their tunnel of opportunity. Before she could even call the others to escape, a voice was heard behind her…and it wasn't pleasing to her ears.

"Little girl like you don't belong here…" Skales slithered out from the darkness, glaring down at her. Fangtom, and Skalidor followed behind him, standing above the upper tracks. The way Skales sees her was nothing but a weakling to him. He demanded, "Hand over that chesssst!"

Cara rotated to the source and her eyes were ever so shocked to see three more monstrous looking snakes. Her skin even prickled by just staring at them, especially the one with two heads and the one with the red eyes. She completely heard what he said, but would she just give up?

"I…I don't think so…" She replied, holding the chest like it was her life.

Infuriated, Skales had no choice but to hypnotize to her to give the chest to him. "Look into my eyessss…and give me that chesssst." His eyes began to spiral, entrancing her to obey his command. Cara was too late to look away, becoming his victim of hypnotism. But to Skales' surprise, he couldn't execute his powers very well. Because for the first time, he had never seen such eyes that looked so unappealing to him and somehow disgusted.

He cuts the trance, "You have one horrible pair of eyessss…and—wait!" Skales had just realized when he stops his hypnotism, so does his victim from being hypnotized. Cara's eyes were freed from his gaze, though she felt a little dizzy. But in an instant, she shook her head to throw the feeling away and then ran away from the three snakes.

Afterwards, it was time to make her move, "Hey guys! Follow me!" She yelled to the others, running towards the tunnel.

Cole, Jay, Kai, and Zane heard her and saw her running to another tunnel. It was time to ditch the cave.

"Come on! You heard her!" Cole directed. For this reason, they all ran after Cara, entering to another dark tunnel and leaving their opponents as well.

Skales couldn't stand looking at his snake people just standing and watching them escape when they could just follow them, not letting the most valuable item get stolen from their hated enemies.

"DON'T YOU JUST SSSSTAND THERE YOU IDIOTSSSS GET THEM!" Skales growled furiously.

When all of them managed to enter it, they caught up with Cara. "How did you know this tunnel will lead us out?" Jay questioned.

"I don't! I just kind of went to my guts." She answered, carrying the chest. A minute later, they saw a light ahead of them.

Kai responded, "Well look at that! Your guts were right." But then, the tunnel began to tremble violently as some debris fell over their heads. The wooden frames that supported the ceiling were beginning to give away. It was only a matter of time before they get buried alive.

"Are we having an earthquake?! You're not the doing this Cole, are you?" Jay only had asked that because he thought Cole's big head would have caused it and he was the ninja of earth after all. And he was surprised he found humor in a situation close to their doom.

Zane looked back behind him, hearing an angry mob of snakes chasing after them, "I think we have worse than an earthquake…" He implied. He also figured the weight of their running feet must have caused to weaken the foundation around the tunnel.

A minute later, they saw the light getting bigger as they get closer. "We're almost there!" Cole announced. Kai, Jay, and Cole were the first one to get out the tunnel. Now, all they need was Zane and Cara.

But all of a sudden, just when they were about to reach their freedom, ten meters away from the exit to be exact… Cara stumbled on one of the strayed rocks scattered on the ground. The chest she was holding sailed away from her grasp as the snakes were gaining at them just five meters close. Not only that, the wooden casing above her was getting vulnerable. Parts of it began to crack.

Cara had two options. It was either she gets out of the way before she gets squish to death or gets the chest which the snakes were already gaining closer to reach it. Just then, when she was about to choose, Zane had grabbed her by the hand and ran as fast as they could, leaving the chest in the hands of the serpentine behind. He could not risk her in such danger when he knows time was short. The next thing they knew, the frames had already collapsed and huge rocks came pouring down immensely racing its way behind Zane and Cara.

There was only three seconds remaining and Zane finally had jumped out along with her to the other side of the tunnel. With a lot of tremendous force, a boulder just over the ledge rolled down and blocked the tunnel while clouds of dusts spread the entire area. Few moments later, the dusts began to clear out.

"Is… everyone alright?!"Cole asked, coughing. Most of them didn't reply but instead all Cole heard was loud coughs. "I'll take that as a yes…" He assumed, his breathing began to normal.

Zane and Cara were lying on the ground. Zane slowly sat up, recovering from his landing. He felt a firm grip in his hand where he had grabbed Cara. He could sense there was fear left in her after the tragic event happened. Cara somehow could not let go. Her fear and her anxiety were still left in her. If Zane didn't manage to pull her out of there, she would have been in the verge of death.

Soon, she too, slowly sat up massaging the top of her head, because some rocks had fallen over her while they were running. Her hand felt slightly weighed but that familiar sensation was once again wrapping around her hand. Cara looked at it and saw Zane's hand still holding hers…or was she holding his?

Zane stood up then looked at Cara with an assuring smile while he still held her hand. He wanted to help her stand up before he could let go.

"You're not hurt are you?" He asked, wanting to be sure she was fine. Cara propped herself up as she gazed into his mysterious eyes.

She smiled and nodded, "I'm fine…and…Thanks…again."

Since the very first day of her first _in danger_ encounter, he had been there for her, protecting. And today, she realized he had been saving her more than once.

Cara has to repay him somehow… They have been looking at each others eyes for quite a minute, savoring that moment…

When Zane managed to help her stand up, he told himself he would let go of her hand…but he couldn't, until they both did when Jay loudly interrupted.

"WHERE THE HECK IS THE CHEST?!"

Jay had been looking for it right after the clouds of dusts faded away. He first caught his sight at Cara, who supposedly has the chest, but noticed she wasn't holding it and neither does the rest. Cole on the other hand, thought Cara must've dropped it after the tunnel collapsed, not that he could blame her.

Kai got disappointed. They had to endure all that against the serpentines for nothing!

"Great! Just great! Don't tell me we have to go back in there?!" He complained angrily.

"Well we can't let the serpentines have it!" Cole snapped.

"You saw how many snakes in there!" Jay conceded, gesturing his arm at the blocked tunnel, we're out numbered! They have the gem!"

Despite from all their blabbering complains. Cara was the only one smiling. "I wouldn't be so sure about that…" She said, sounding mysterious. Zane cocked his head, confused, "What do you mean?"

Cara jammed her hand into her side pocket of her jacket then she pulled out…

"The gem!" Jay beamed blissfully, seeing the item they risk getting at was on the palm of her hand. The gemstone was with Cara the whole time! Cole and Kai couldn't believe the trick hidden in her sleeves or pocket rather.

"But how did you do it? The chest was left behind." Zane questioned, yet impressed by her clever idea. Back then, before they escaped the cavern and the ninjas were busy fighting the snakes. When the chest fell beside a heap of bones, Cara had the idea to switch the gem, replacing it with a bone inside the container just in case if she drops the chest again.

When it did happen, the snakes will think they would have the opportunity to take it from her and victory will be theirs when she has the gem all along.

"Wait a minute…" Cole protested as he pondered about his realization, "If we have the gem…Then what did the snakes have?"

Cara rolled her eyes, "Oh…I think they will be surprise when they open it." After that, she took a glance of her surroundings. For some reason, they were in a different part of the mountain. This time, there were green healthy trees around them and grasses they were standing on. It was funny too, she thought the Mountain of Thorns would be all…thorns. But the one thing she caught attention to, was a light peeking behind the trees. Cara approached it.

Zane watched her as she goes, "Where are you going?" Cara, who had just passing through the shrubs, looked back at Zane, "I just want to see what's on the other side." As she was getting closer to the bright light, it flashed before her eyes. And what came next was breath taking…

She cupped her hands over her lips, gasped at the scene right in front of her pale blue eyes. The entire area was covered by fields of flowers of all kinds. Just then, the wind blew in, making the flowers sway like they were dancing. Cara was utterly speechless from the beauty. It almost reminded of pictures from her books about variety of flowers. But only this one was real.

The four ninjas managed to follow behind and their reactions were the same as Cara's.

"Whoa! Are we in paradise?!" Jay exclaimed, "If it is, I'm moving in here!"

Cara felt giddy all of a sudden. She could feel her feet wanting to be tickled by the grass while she runs towards the field, which eventually she did. That moment was worth it for her. In fact, she got happier that she left her home.

Grinned, Zane found her adorable watching her naming the flowers she sees.

"Let's see…" Cara began, looking down a yellow flower, "This one is a yellow bell." She turned behind, seeing a white flower, "White Chrysanthemum…" Then she looked to her left, "Honeysuckle…" Then she turned to her right, "Meadow Foxtail!"

"You sure know a lot of them." Kai said, walking towards her.

Cole glanced, "I've never seen this much flowers before…I wonder if this is where they get the flowers for the flower shops?"

Jay encountered a different flower he saw next to the lilies. It has three blue petals and the stem was a little purplish. The first thing that came to his mind seeing that flower was Nya and he had just decided to give her some since she loves blue. It would also make her happy.

"Hey Cara…" Jay called, picking up the flowers. When he had gathered enough bouquet, he swiveled to show it to Cara, "What do you call these flowers?"

Caught by his question, Cara turned to see what he was asking about, but quickly frowned when she saw it, "That's highly poisonous… "

Jay's face contorted in confusion, "Highly poisonous? What kind of name is…?" Just then, he felt an itchy sensation on his cheek. "Is it me… or my skin is getting itchy…" He scratched his cheek then to his arm, until a red spot appeared on his face.

"That's the poison, Jay…It's already reacting." She replied, "You're lucky the flowers didn't touch your mouth or else it will swell and you wouldn't be able to talk well."

Cole's eyes widened as his devilish look danced in eyes. This was a dream come true for him…

Kai and Zane saw the way Cole reacted when Cara had mentioned about Jay not able to talk. They both knew Cole was the most irritated when it comes to Jay's talkative mouth.

Kai leaned close to Zane and whispered, "This is the time to turn your funny switch!"

With that response, Zane flipped his small panel on his left arm open and turned his humor switch then closed the panel.

Cole stepped twice close to Jay. He pretended to point out a flower, "Hey Cara! What do you call that one?" He spread his arms sideways while his right hand hit under Jay's wrist without touching the poisonous plant. In results, the flowers were able to press against Jay's mouth. Startled, Jay glared at Cole, knowing he would do that on purpose.

"Hey! You did that on purpmmff!" A red lump grew around Jay's mouth, making his lips looked like fish lips.

Kai and Zane burst out of laughter after seeing the results whereas Cara just cupped her hand over her mouth, trying not to laugh hard. Cole must have been proud of himself.

Then out of the blue, a strong blast of wind came in and a large shadow appeared over them.

Their laughter started to die slowly, panting from their hard amusement. Everyone looked up and was surprise the Bounty was hovering above. Nya appeared by the balcony, gazing down at them. She was also astounded by the fields of flowers from her view.

"Wow…this place is so pretty…" She said. Next, she dropped down the ladder so that they can start climbing onboard.

Cara glowered. She didn't want to leave the place yet because she wanted to stay longer. And was for sure, it was also her first time being in scene that came out from her books she read.

She pouted, hoping she would hear a yes. "Can't we stay a little bit longer, Nya?"

"I'm sorry, Cara…but we need to get ready for our next destination. Who knows where your pendant will take us this time." Nya replied.

Cole looked at Cara, "She's right Cara…and the snakes could get out of that cavern any time soon to get that gemstone again. Although…" He looked away, wondering about his question that had been bothering him and that question was…How did the snakes knew they were going to the Mountain of Thorns when they were the only one who knew the location of the gem.

"But don't worry. I'm sure you'll come back here after our mission is done." Nya assured.

Those words made Cara's stomach tightened. She didn't like the feeling either, especially the fact she knew that was going to be impossible, because by then, she would have been locked in her room forever after her mean aunt finds out she ran away.

"That's what I'm afraid of…" She muttered under her breath.

And so, the ninjas and Cara were all managed to climb up the ship. Nya was shocked when she saw Jay's mouth swollen, holding a bouquet of poisonous flowers.

She asked, struck about Jay's swollen lips, "What…What happened to you?!"

Jay sighed sadly, "I was…goifff…to….gifff…youfff…some…fffllowefff…"

Nya tilted her head in puzzlement, not knowing what he meant, "Huh? What?"

Kai barged in to their conversation, still couldn't get over Cole's cruel joke. "What _itchy_ trying to say here sis was he was going to give you flowers." He replied, trying hard not to laugh again.

Jay added, but in an angry tone, "And then…Colff…juffff hifff meffff to….mmmfffur mmurrffr!"

Nya looked at Kai, "Did you understand what he said?"

Then, Zane walked by them and answered, "I believe that one is priceless…"

Nya went back gazing at Jay. She smiled ever so sweet, after finding out Jay's lovely gesture. She crossed her hand over her beating chest, "Awww…you were going to give me flowers..? That was so thoughtful of you Jay!" If Jay's face wasn't covered with rashes, Nya would have kissed him by now.

* * *

For the meantime, Skales was sitting exaustedly on a stone similar to a chair being fan by Skalidor. He sort of had a high blood pressure after he yelled at his minions how idiotic they were.

"They better give me good newssssss when they get back!" He groaned. Not a minute or so, the snake soldiers have arrived, covered in dirt. It seemed right after the tunnels had collapsed, they were buried alive. However, with the help of the constictais, they were able to retrieve the chest and got their selves out.

"We have good newsssss for you General Skalesssss…" Bytar said, carrying the chest in his grasp.

Surprised, Skales quickly stood up, slithering his way to him. He snatched the chest from Bytar, lifting it above. He was really happy the gem was theirs to take and even happier knowing the ninjas lost in this battle. But the one human he loath right now, was the girl with the pale blue eyes who clearly rejected his request.

"I knew that pathetic weakling would give up!" He exclaimed, putting the chest lower.

Fangtom, Acidicus, and Skalidor came behind him. "What are you waiting for Skalesss?…Open it!" Acidicus demanded.

Skales puts his hand over the cover then slowly opens it. But after that, wasn't what he expected…

"WHAT?! WHAT ISSSS THE MEANING OF THISSSS!?" He roared, holding up a human skull he had picked up from the chest. And then, he threw it against Bytar's face, "That isssss not the gem!"

His rage not only was against the ninjas, but Cara as well, who seemed to out smart him.

Without warning, the whole cavern shuddered aggressively. The ground began to crack, the stalactites fell from its place, and the Lapis lazuli shattered. For every snake, they thought it was another earthquake, but for Skales, it was his worst nightmare…

"Oh no!" Skales clutched the side of his head, "It'ssss him! It'sssss him! Hide me!"

He hid behind one of the stones that weren't shattered to pieces, concealing himself away from his fear or him… A black shadow appeared mystically at the center, getting bigger and bigger.

Later on, a pair of glowing eyes appeared that Skales would never think he sees it again as the black shadow transformed into a familiar robe. There was no doubt it was their new master, paying them a visit. Just when he fully showed up, the ground shaking had stopped.

"We meet again my slaves…" He spoke coldly, "How've I missed you…"

All of the serpentines shook before him, praying he would not torture them. Their unknown master stood silently at the center, secretly glaring all of them. Afterwards, he began to walk forward where the three generals stood and coward Skales hiding behind a stone.

Fangtom, Acidicus, and Skalidor were huddled together, horrified at their master's presence.

He stopped right in front of them for awhile then looked at the huge stone beside them, where obviously Skales is. Silence was once again returned around them, until it broke when their master started clapping.

"I am very impress serpentines…very impressive indeed." He complimented, "I never knew you would come this far. Let alone you managed to find the first gem's location…"

Skales heard everything he said. "This issss sssstarting to get interssssting…"

The snakes were all confused, exchanging glances at one another. They don't seem to understand what he was trying to say when they knew they don't actually have the gem.

"However…" He continued calmly, but soon his voice changed with anger, "YOU DID NOT GET THE GEM I ASK FOR!" With those words, he snapped his finger, using his powers to activate the chains of torment.

Once more, the snakes cried in pain, sensing that familiar electrifying sensation all over their body. Skales resisted the pain while he crawled out behind the stone. "PLEASSSSE! GIVE… USSS… A CHANCE… WE'LL GET IT BACK! I PROMISSSSE! JUSSST SSSSTOP!"

In one snap of a finger, the snakes's torture has ended. Now, the reptiles can finally rest, twitching as they agonize.

"If you are willing to get your freedom back…snakes… You better get all the gems. Am I quite clear on that?" He explained, "If not…you can live wearing that collar for the rest of your miserable lives as my slaves!" He walked back to the center again and blew a whistle.

Suddenly, they heard a loud screeched coming from the darkness. His pet, bald eagle, swiftly flew to him then landed on top of the stone.

He added, "Consider this a gift for you wretched snakes…my pet will be accompanying you for now on…" He chuckled, "And don't worry…he already ate." But then, he lied when his dark bird just swallowed one of the venomari tribe down to his guts.

"Just now that is…" He laughed maniacally.

* * *

**Chapter Eight: Eye in the Jaws**

"You make antidotes better than I do." Nya complimented, watching Cara creating Jay's medicine. It had been two days since Jay's skin problem occurred. It was a good thing Jay brought those flowers for Nya or else he wouldn't have anything to cure his skin irritations.

Cara was extracting some oils from the nectar then transferring it to a vile. Once she did, Cara corked it close.

"Thanks…" She answered, "I sort of learned it from reading. I have books about medical plants." She then turned to Jay, who sat on the table like he was a patient in a clinic, tossed him the vile he needed. His swollen lips were…even more swollen and his rashes spread almost to his entire skin. Jay caught the vile and pulled the cork out. The smell of the medicine, made his nose stung as he pulled the bottle away from his face.

"It might be smelly Jay…but it will help you make those rashes of yours go away." Cara assured positively. Jay pointed at his lips, wanting to be sure it also involves.

"And also your lips." She added.

Nya smiled at Cara and clung her hand over to Cara's shoulder, "Thanks for doing this. I'm not actually good making medicines from plants…I've tried other medicines before but not from plants..."

Cara gave a nod, "It's ok. I'm glad I can help around here."

Nya shifted to a giggle, "Are you kidding me? Helping us recovering those gemstones is the biggest help you gave us!"

Cara didn't reply to that, but it was true while she thought about it. Not that she's proud of, but because she had the freedom to help others. Unlike with her wild-haired aunt, she treated her like useless, thinking that she can do the job done easily.

"So where did you keep the gem?" She asked, deciding to change the subject.

When Nya heard that question, she began to wonder why she would ask that when it is obvious she kept it in a much secured place. But, she didn't let it go through her head about it.

"It's in my room locked in a special container." She replied, "Why did you ask?"

"I just wanted to know because sometimes I can't get the feeling those snakes will come after it…" Cara rubbed her left arm, feeling a bit silly of her answer, "I'm sorry if it bothers you…especially if you're thinking I would do something horrible to it…"

Although it was true, every time she walks around the bounty or even waking up in the morning without first looking outside the window, she could shake the feeling those serpentines would just pop out of no where. But the one thing she had been bothered, was the snake who hypnotized her, Skales.

Nya shook her hands, "No…No..! Don't feel bad about it." She lowered her hands, I'm just glad you're being honest with me and…don't be afraid about those hideous snakes. You know we always have your back, it's what we do here."

It was so nice to hear those words for Cara. It even helped her to lighten up about her whole snake fear. She almost completely felt welcome into the group from what Zane advised her. Overall, it was a feeling she would never thought having…to feel belonged.

* * *

It was a long day gone, and afternoon has almost passed. Cole, Kai, and Zane were in the verge of boredom, sitting and lying on the floor. And yes, their video game hasn't been restored since its parts were used in the ship's main generator. But in the bright side, it was quiet…too quiet and Cole never wished it to be better as he simply laid on the floor with his hands rested behind his head and sighed in content. When all of a sudden, Jay kicked the door open, barging to Cole's tranquility.

"I'm BACK BABY!" He exclaimed blissfully, now that his rashes were gone. And obviously his mouth was back as well. There goes Cole's peace and quiet moments…

"Hooray…you're back…" Cole said coldly.

Jay went further inside the room. He placed his hands over his hips, showing off to everyone his rashes vanished and not to mention a devilish look in his eyes. And in his eyes, were written in _Pay Back_ for Cole. "Look! My rashes are gone! I don't feel itchy anymore. I don't feel irritated anymore. I don't feel my hands itchy. I don't feel my foot itchy. I don't feel my elbows itchy. I don't feel my back itchy. I don't feel arms itchy. I don't feel knees itchy…"

As Jay was rambling on and on, Cole's expression started to change, it almost looked like he could not resist, his right eye twitching, his hands covering his ears, and his teeth clenching.

Jay rambled on, "I don't feel my shoulders itchy. I don't feel my upper legs itchy. I don't feel my—!"

"OK! OK! I GET YOU…YOU'RE NOT ITCHY ANYMORE!" Cole snapped irately,

Jay smirked proudly while he crossed his arms over his chest, "Ha! I knew you're gonna give up! That's what happened if you pull a horrible joke on me!"

"But you've got to admit it's funny." Kai admitted, lying on his bed with his legs crossed. He looked at Zane, who was checking his circuit boards behind each switches, "Hey Zane, mind if we could borrow you again for another game of Fist to Fist Four?"

Cole and Jay beamed, hearing another of their favorite past time to set.

"Yeah, Zane…can you do it? So that I can finally beat Kai's high score!" Jay hoped, glaring at Kai.

Kai sat up then look at Jay, "In your dreams, dreamer boy! There's still no way you can beat me."

Cole, feeling confident, stood up and said, "Not unless I can do something about it. This time, I'll join in the fun and show you ladies how is done!" Kai hopped out from his bed and gave Cole a strict challenging look, "Bring it on!"

And then, the three of them glanced over to Zane, "Zane, ready the game!"

Meanwhile, Zane did not reply. He had shut his panel cover very loud, so loud his brothers could tell something was wrong with him. But the three somehow didn't bother to ask…the tension around them about beating each other in the game were too distracting compare from their nindroid brother's problem. The reason why Zane did that was because he was frustrated at them for using him as a tool too much for their own good. Two days ago, at the day after they had retrieved the gemstone.

Jay was supposed to fix the toaster so that they could make toasted bread in the morning. But due from his morning laziness, he told Kai and Cole to use Zane as a toaster, since his body can generate enough heat to cook the bread. Also, they did that when Zane was asleep! Not even they didn't ask permission first.

After those results, he woke up with his body temperature rising, especially in his torso and he discovered his circuits were almost burned.

And the next thing he knew he found bread crumbs stuck in one of his switches as Kai walked pass by to their room, eating toasted bread.

And so, Zane stood up and just walked out the room without saying a word to them. He thought it would be best for him not to say something very sudden to them, not yet anyways…

Once Zane exited the room, he shut the door close, leaving the three confused.

Jay cocked his head in puzzlement, "What up with him?" Kai and Cole were confused as Jay, exchanging glances at each other along with a shrug.

Climbing up the stairs, Zane could not stop thinking about his brothers doings to him. He had also realized they were treating him…no…abusing him as much of a machine than their best friend. Until now, he couldn't answer himself that question. _When did things change?_

He made it to the upper deck and found out it was raining outside. He was about to go to the bridge but halted himself from there when he saw Cara standing alone near the bow of the ship with her back turned. Cara didn't know Zane's presence as she stood, letting the rain pour down on her. It was a certain yet another feeling she felt for the first time…and it was the rain.

Back from where she lives, all her windows and doors were closed, keeping her away from the outside world. She read about rain and how it works, but never actually tried being in one of it. She had also remembered back when she was a little girl, she used to envy the kids outside her house playing in the rain while she just sits behind her door, hearing the children stepping over puddles and the rain drops drumming down on her door front.

From what she noticed, the sensation of the rain drop, tickling on her skin was far different than the water falling down from her shower.

"So this is how rain feels like…" She spoke softly. Zane heard what she said then wondered why. The way she mentioned from the tone of her voice, sounded like it was her first time.

_"Why would she say that? Isn't she been in the rain before?" _He thought curiously.

Just then, when he backed his foot a little, the wooden floor creaked.

Alarmed, Cara quickly turned around thinking there might someone on the deck, her first thought was the snakes. But when she did, there was no one.

The rain grew stronger. Cara began walking her way inside of the ship. She didn't want to get wet than she already was.

As for Zane, he hid himself hanging on the other side of the balcony while the bounty was twelve thousand meters above the ground, concealing himself from her sight. He didn't want to let her see him because she might think he was spying her.

He pulled his head up a little, peeking if Cara was gone. When she was, he climbed back up while he looked where Cara's direction. Somehow, she made him ever so curious about her. Like, why does her long white curly hair made him wanting to touch it? Why does her pale blue eyes made him mesmerize by just looking at it? And why does her pinkish lips made him…

Zane shook the question away as his artificial heart throbbed faster than usual. These feelings he had in him, was never in his existence felt before until he met Cara. And clearly he had no idea nor could even extending his logical parameters help him seek the answer, leading to no results. But the one thing he wanted to know was…How come she's the only one made him have these feelings? What does it even mean to him?

* * *

The night has fallen upon them. Everyone had gathered in the dining room, eating their dinner. Zane cooked the food again, only because his father had requested him to make his favorite meal.

The boys were busy chatting about their previous adventures they had, which involves who beats the most enemies and which has the best techniques. The only person who would brought that kind of subject was Jay. During the conversation, the boys were boasting at each other in a good way or laughed while they recalled the funny moments together during their past missions.

Cara was amused by their stories. She also laughed at the events, but mostly she would laugh about Jay's part how ridiculous he was. They had their story telling lasted for an hour, enjoying each others company.

Jay looked at Cara, who sat across the table besides Zane. "Hey Cara, thanks for making the cure for me. I would have said it before if my mouth wasn't swollen."

Cara smiled sweetly, appreciating his feedback, "No problem, Jay. It's the least I could do to help."

Zane gave a small smile of impress. It was new information he heard from her. He noticed she was clever too and smart, judging she was the one who helped them find an escape route back at the cavern in the Mountain of Thorns. Not to mention she out smart the serpentines.

"Wow…you guys sure have a lot of adventures." She confessed. Then, she picked up her chop sticks to eat her fried dumpling. Once she clamped it with her chop sticks, she was going to eat it.

"Of course, everybody goes out for an adventure!" Jay answered, "I mean…c'mon! It's not like you keep yourself locked up forever. What kind of life would that be?"

Cara bristled. She let the food drop to her plate. Her face from open and amused to shocked and hurt. Those words that came from Jay's mouth made her utterly flabbergast as if he knew who she really was. The hurt she felt was not like she was offended…but it was the truth.

Could she blame Jay for saying that? No…she could not.

It was something Cara was ashamed of, ashamed to tell everyone that her life was exactly what he said.

As a matter of fact, she hated it, being imprisoned in her house since she had that fear from people looked at her like aberration. Because of those people from the past, she remembered the most horrible memory she had as she gently placed her hand over her left arm, where her robotic arm was.

Zane was the only who noticed her while the rest were paying attention to Jay's unlikely conversation. He gazed at her, just seeing her stare down to her plate with her eyes broken with distress and her hand over her other arm. He could tell she was upset of something.

Just then, Nya came in to the dining room. She placed her hands over her hips, "Are you guys done eating in here? Cu'z it's my turn to wash the dishes and I have other stuff to do. And in case you haven't notice…you've been here for more than an hour!"

Undeniably true, Nya was right. They were so busy having their conversation the boys didn't get the chance to look at the time.

Cole scratched the back of his head, "Sorry about that Nya…We just didn't know what else to do later…so we kind 'a stayed here for awhile."

Moments later, Dr. Julien stood up from his seat, adjusting his glasses and said, "Don't tell me you haven't tried you're video game? I feel bad for tampering with it…" He chuckled, "So I decided to fix it again just to make it up to you boys."

Cole, Kai, and Jay beamed with joy!

"You mean it's been fixed this whole time?!" Jay said then fist pumped, "Awesome!"

Kai challenged, "Last one who gets to the bed room cleans it for the entire month!" And with that, the three dashed out of the dining room, racing their way to play video games.

Cole called out loudly for Zane, "Hey frosty come on! You're gonna miss Jay lose!"

"Hey!" Jay protested. "Don't listen to him!"

Zane however, wasn't interested to watch Jay lose nor even joining his brothers, probably because he was still upset about them. He was rather interested with someone else…

Afterwards, Dr. Julien left to sleep. To Nya's surprise, Cara had convinced her to do the dishes for her since she doesn't have other things to do and she needed to ease her mind anyway after that just happened moments ago.

Once all the dishes were in the sink, Cara just stared it down, not minding the water from the faucet was pouring in. For some reason, she could not let her horrible memory go. It was dwelling in her mind so deep, she cannot attain to reach it and throw it away. Soon, she began hearing voices…

_"Do you even know I never let you out of this house?! Because you're a freak!" _

Her aunt's voice echoed in her mind. The words stabbed her through her heart just remembering it.

_"Not to mention that accident you had…my dear…You're lucky I found you!" _

Cara shut her eyes. All she could hear was that _crack_ from her memory. She clenched her fists, resisting the pain that marked through her life. And then, she heard more voices, but this time it was the voices of the children who offended her when she was a kid.

_"Hey old lady! Want to help you cross the street!"_

_"You look funny!"_

_"What's wrong with your eyes? Are you blind or something?"_

_"Hey freak, you don't belong here!"_

_"Eeew! You're hair looks so weird!"_

Cara covered her ears. The voices she heard felt like needles tattooing her skin. Then she felt her feet getting wet. It seemed the sink was overflowing because Cara had to let the faucet running. She quickly stopped the water and backed a little, just to see the mess she caused.

She breathed heavily through her nose, "Great…"

"Do you need any assistance?" a familiar voice was heard behind her. Cara whirled around, seeing Zane standing by the doorway. When she saw him, her troubled mind started to calm down. The voices in her head just vanished in an instant. But her heart however skipped a beat, not that she was surprised…but different.

"Zane…" She spoke, "Don't worry…I'm good." She turned back to the sink again and picking the dishes then puts it aside. Now that Zane was at her presence, she could not stop remembering that moment where he saved her from being buried alive back at the cavern.

She gave a small then looked over her shoulder, "I know…this might sound silly over and over…but I still wanted to say thank you for saving me back at the cavern." She placed another plate on top of another, "You do realize someday I'll give you back the favor, right?"

Zane gave a hint of smile. He walked towards her then leaned against the counter beside Cara. "If that is the case…" He said, "Perhaps you could…if you let me help you wash the dishes."

Cara paused her washing, surprised at his feedback. She didn't quite expect just helping her to wash the dishes was the favor he asked for from saving her from two snakes and saving her from the trembling tunnel. But could she do something about it?

She giggled as she reached a dry towel right next to the dish rack, "I guess I can't refuse to that one…" She handed the towel to Zane, "Now can I?"

Zane accepted the towel while Cara handed him the wet dishes. Zane was the one drying the plate and Cara was the one washing.

She grabbed another plate, wiping it off with a soapy sponge, "So…I thought you were with your friends to play video games?"

Zane released a heavy breath, "I was not exactly in the mood to join with them…however if I don't mind asking…"

Cara gave another plate to him, "What is it, Zane?"

He took the dish, wiping it, "During dinner when Jay said something …you seemed sad about it. Would it be alright to know what was it?"

Cara stiffened. She was flummoxed he wanted to know what happened to her, but more importantly he somehow cared how she felt. No person would dare to ask her that kind of question, not even her aunt whenever she had troubles.

She let the glass lowered into the sink and sighed, "I…I just remembered something…It wasn't a pleasing memory either, but I just couldn't stop thinking about it." She kept staring down her reflection down the water from the sink. Just seeing herself with her unusual features was the whole reason she wished never having. If she never had to look different, she never would have a life of solitude. But beside her reflection, was Zane gazing at her with a worried countenance.

Cara shook her head before letting her horrid memory again comes in. She glanced at Zane and smiled, though behind her smile was another way to hide her sorrowful secrets…

"But I'm fine now!" She snapped, "I just need to distract myself a little that's all…"

Zane cocked his head in puzzlement, "And…washing the dishes would help you?"

"Well…" She sighed, "In a way…yes." She looked back at him with hope, "I could try…right?"

When they're eyes locked, Cara nervously placed the plate near the edge. The plate tittered and began to fall as she reached out to catch it, slipping on the puddle and fell into Zane's arm, causing him to fall back. As they opened their eyes, they realized their lips were touching. Cara quickly got off of Zane, blushing fiercely and gazed away. For Zane, he quickly sat up and looked away, blushing immensely.

Cara nervously stroked her hair down. "I—I'm so…so…sorry Zane!" She stammered, "I—I didn't mean to do that!"

"No! No! Don't be…it's my fault. I should've caught you quicker." Zane answered in a rush. There was a long silence for awhile. Then soon, they began slowly turning to each other. But when they did, it only made them blush more and look away.

Cara cleared her throat, breaking the silence. "Zane…" She began, "I know this is an awkward situation, but…" She glanced back to him, only this time, she was calm. Although her pinkish blush still remained on her cheeks, "I don't mind hearing more of you and your friend's stories from your past missions...I would love to hear it again."

Indeed, she enjoyed listening from their adventures. She has collections of adventure novels, but their version of journey was far to compare from her books.

Zane turned his eyes at Cara, smiled, and nodded. "I'd be honor to share it with you." He gazed away again, rubbing the back of his neck, "That is of course…after we finish cleaning the dishes."

After ten minutes, Zane and Cara managed to finish washing the dishes. Although, before they could even get near the sink, Zane had mopped the puddle first so that none of them would slip again. Unlike that just happened…

They both went out to the deck, where Zane had decided to share the stories Cara love to hear. The night was still young. The crescent moon lit its finest light while it was also a starry evening.

Zane told her so many events that took place in their lives along with Sensei Wu, like the time how Sensei Wu got him into his team. He also explained about the serpentines of every tribe. Now that Cara knows about them, it made her wonder the name of the snake that victimized her with his hypnotism. Just thinking about it, made her shiver down her spine. As Zane kept rambling on about their stories, Cara would simply nod or shook. Sometimes, she would laugh at the funny parts of the stories.

Then, her expressions would change whenever she heard an interesting part from the story. He even told her the darkest hours of Ninjago. Zane even asked her if she ever noticed that certain event. It was highly impossible for everyone not to notice it because everything was changed almost into oblivion.

But how will Cara know the answer to his question? Her whole life was already covered in darkness, being pulled away from the outside world. Her windows all bricks, not letting a single sunlight pass through and her doors always locked. To her reaction, she doesn't know how to answer him, but simply nodded, hoping Zane would understand. Other than that, Zane showed a picture of him and his friends. Cara took the picture and looked. She noticed there was another person beside him, wearing a green uniform.

"Who's that one right next to you?" She asked, "How come I don't see him around with you guys?"

"His name is Lloyd. He is the green ninja who has the same attributes of our elemental powers. We also taught him what we know about spinjitzu. Most likely, he is an important member of our group." Zane explained, "And…he's not here now because he's with his family."

That was new information…

"I never knew you have a fifth member…" She said softly, giving the picture back. All that entire story telling, made Cara forgotten her whole bad nostalgia. She felt enlighten and her mind at ease thanks to the white ninja. She was happy she could hear more of it as she released a breath of content. A good silence came around them while they both settled, leaning up against the balcony and gazing at the night sky. In Cara's mind, there was one thing she wanted to confess him, based from her realization…

"Zane…" Cara called, looking at him, "Can I tell you something?"

When Zane met her eyes again, he couldn't stop having that feeling being lost in her eyes. He slightly shrugged his shoulders, "Sure. What do you need to tell?"

"I've noticed something from you…Whenever I feel down or something that's been bothering me…" Cara paused for a moment, not able to help herself gazing at him, "You knew I was...and you're always there to help me…"

She took a step towards him and held his hand, giving it a slight squeeze, "So thank you."

Cara slowly pulled her hand away and strolled down the stairs. Before she could enter the hall, she turned around to Zane, "And…thanks for sharing me those stories. It really helped me forgot that memory." She smiled warmly, "Good night." With that, she went inside the hall then to Nya's room.

When she closed the door, Cara gently touched her lips, reminiscing that moment where she accidentally touched Zane's lips. His lips were so warm and soft. Somehow, it felt so real to her, almost like a kiss. Ever since she first met him, she had these unusual feelings towards him. It was confusing at first of what it was. But for the past couple of days and moments ago, Cara realized she has always like him…no…like-like him. The only problem was…does he feel the same towards her? Specially, when she has a queer look…

* * *

Heading his way to the bedroom, Zane began to touch his lips, where Cara had unintentionally pressed hers. He couldn't stop thinking about hoe soft and sweet Cara's lips are.

_"I don't understand. It happened awhile ago…But I can't stop thinking about her. Why do I feel this way when I'm with her?" _ He thought to himself.

As he got closer to his bedroom, he heard his brothersn bickering during their game session in the other side. He pushed the door open and saw them still fighting each other in the game.

Jay stomped his foot in frustration, "Oh c'mon! That's not fair!" Then, he noticed Zane standing by the door, "Oh hey buddy! Where have you been? We've been waiting of you."

Kai responded, his eyes never left the screen, "Yeah dude, you missed all the—whoa!"

Kai suddenly stood up pressing the controller furiously as Cole closely beats Kai's character, "There's no way you're beating my game!"

"Well it looks like it's going to be my game!" Cole proclaimed, doing randomly combos, "Take that!"

"Wanna join us, Zane? We saved you the other controller." Jay insisted.

Zane shook his head, "No thank you. I'm not really in the mood to play video game right now."

Zane went to the comfort room to change into his Pajamas. Jay was startled at his response. He turned his head, leaving his sight from the screen, "Really? That's new…you never left us out on our gaming session."

When Zane was done, Kai and Cole pauses the game and then glanced at Zane with concern.

"What's wrong, Zane? You seem a little upset…" Kai asked, "Is there something bothering you?"

This was the right time to let Zane share his little problem with his best friends, regarding the way they had been treating him. Zane pondered for awhile and decided that it would be a perfect chance to tell them. But before he could even open his mouth, Jay interrupted, "Oh hold that thought Zane!"

He went over to the closet, getting something out of it. It turns out to be a certain part of his new invention he had been working on before they started the mission. Jay grabbed it then went to Zane, showing it. "Can you help me charge this thing? I needed it to have full energy before I could insert this to the machine I've been working on."

Zane's eyes widened. He began to question about his request. "Jay." He said, "You do realize you are the ninja of lightning. You can always use your powers to charge that device."

Jay inhaled through clenched teeth while rubbing the back of his neck, "Yeaaah…about that. I just don't feel using my powers to do it cu'z it stings sometimes…Not to mention it _burns_."

That was pathetic…

"Good night. Jay." Zane answered coldly. To think his best friends would listen to him about his problems, like what real brothers do. In its place, it was another selfish request. And so, he just lied down in his bed and buried himself underneath the blanket.

* * *

6:30 am. The Destiny's Bounty was parked peacefully on the top of the mountain. Everyone inside were all still asleep, until Cara woke up with the first dawn of light touching her face. She slowly sat up, rubbing her right eye. She looked out the window across Nya's bed, seeing a light passing through. To her curiosity, Cara pushed her blanket aside and walked out of the room.

She didn't exactly know why she just left the room, but there was something in her she wanted to see as she strolled up the stairs to the deck. Once she reached to the upper deck, the view she witnessed outside amazed her. Two majestic mountains stood beyond her distance as the sun rose between them, shedding its first light to Ninjago. It was first time for Cara to ever seen such scene of sunrise.

Surely, she had read about parts of stories from her novels about the character watched the sunrise saying how beautiful it was or how welcoming it felt on the first day. But never thought, she would be that character right now. From the words she read from her books, the sunrise view was far beyond to describe than just words— it was breath taking!

But then, the light from the rising sun was not the only thing she saw. She caught another light blinking below her eyes. She gazed down and was taken aback when she noticed her pendant was once again glowing. It has been a long time it didn't glow. Could this mean it will lead them to the second location of the second gemstone? All of a sudden, a blue lining appeared around the pendant as it shoots out a beam of light directing its way to the north. Without hesitation, Cara ran towards the bridge where Nya had left her map.

Rolling the map open, Cara marked the coordinates from the mountain where the bounty was standing, up to the north arctic regions of Ninjago. When she found out about the second destination, she started to wonder what possibilities where the gem could have hidden, when everything in the north region was covered by an icy ocean. Cara intended to wake Nya regarding the whole situation. And with that she did.

"Nya…wake up. Nya!" Cara whispered loudly, patting Nya's shoulder.

Nya started to move, waking from her slumber. She sat up then yawned. "What is it, Cara?"

Cara showed the map to her, "I know where the second gem is located!"

* * *

It had been few hours and Cole, Jay, Kai, and Zane were still in their bed sleeping. That was of course, Kai began to feel…chilly. He kept tossing and turning over in his bed, He even tucked and curled just to feel warm until he couldn't resist the cold.

He sat up, shivering, "Is it m-m-m-me or…it'ssss r-r-really ge-ge-getting co-cold?"

Cole and Jay slowly awakened with the same reason as Kai. When Cole managed to open his eyes, he could barely see his own breath.

"I d-d-don't re-re-remember having an air co-c-conditioner in here, do we?" Jay said, rubbing the side of his arms, warming himself.

Zane was the only one not bothered by the cold temperature. In fact, he was comfortable sleeping in cold temperature, especially when he's the ninja of ice. Cole grabbed his pillow and hopped out of his bed then walked towards Zane. He smacked the pillow over Zane's face.

Zane instantly sat up, startled from Cole's wake up call. He bumped his head against the upper bunk. "Ow!" He glared at Cole, "What?!"

Jay went over to the window. He wiped the glass with his hands to clean off the moist, and what comes after that was...

"Aah…Guys…I d-d-don't think we're in…the su-sunny side of Ninjajago anymore…"

Outside the window, Jay witnessed it was snowing and they were floating above a vast arctic oceans. And then, they heard Nya's voice announcing from the speaker.

**_"Attention ninjas! You better get dressed and proceed to the bridge. Cara found out where the second gem is…better get yourselves ready!" _**

And with that, the boys changed their attire to their fighting kimonos along with their scarves around their necks, except for Zane. He was fond of the temperature. When they managed to go to the bridge, Nya and Cara were already there waiting for them.

"Morning everyone!" Cara greeted enthusiastically. The boys sat by the table across each other.

Cole greeted, "Morning to you too, Cara. So…what's up?"

The minute Zane sat just across Cara. He smiled at her presence, seeing her again as she smiled back at him. Kai noticed the two but felt suspicious.

Nya looked at Cara, "Ok, Cara I think you know what to do."

Cara took a breath and explained, "A few hours ago, just when I woke up. My necklace began to glow again." She pointed her finger to the marked coordinates on the map, "The light from it guided us here in this arctic region. And…as you can see." She lifted her pendant, showing it to everyone, "It's blinking fast…which means we are probably getting closer to gem."

Jay could not help himself but notice the place near their destination. "Hey, we're almost close to that place…" He snapped his finger three times, trying to recall the name, "You know…where we got the shurikens of ice_."_

Cara just remembered one of Zane's stories last night. It involved his old weapon he possessed. She never thought the whole area was close to it.

"You mean the Frozen Wasteland?" Cara recalled. She gazed at Zane again, "Zane told me all about it last night.

Then, something dawned to Jay. He squinted his eyes suspiciously at Zane, "Sooo…That's where you've been..? You were with her last night!"

Cole pounded his fist against the table, "That's enough Jay! We're focusing in the mission here? If case you haven't notice." He turned to Nya, "What else do we need to know?"

Nya felt a bit awkward of the situation, but more awkward for Cara. There was a slight blush on her cheeks. She was feeling a little embarrassed.

"Anyways…" Nya began, "Since we've been from North West, the distance is not really that far away. So, I just drove the ship directly here. And soon I'm going to land the bounty in the ocean." After Nya said that, she raised an eyebrow while she smirks giving them the _This is going to be fun _look.

Kai found it disturbing, like he knew she was hiding some information left that soon he and his friends will face yet. "Aaah…Nya…why are you looking at us like that?" He asked worriedly.

Moments later, just outside the deck…

"Let me get this straight…"Kai said nervously, "We are going to swim in there?!"

Indeed, Cara's pendant could never be wrong when it comes to the gem's location. It was no doubt the gem is hiding somewhere below the freezing water as all of them stared at it.

"Why can't Zane do this one?" Kai complained, "He's perfect for the job!"

Jay agreed, "Uh-huh! Plus he's not even wearing a scarf!"

Zane glared at Jay, thinking how will people with no scarf to do the job done when it has absolutely had nothing to do with it, although he tried not to think hard about it.

"Isn't that we're suppose to have some sort of special suit against this kind of temperature?" Cole questioned, still hesitated about swimming in the icy water.

Just when she heard Cole, Nya just came out from the bridge, carrying a tray of four oxygen masks.

She shrugged, "Well…If I knew the location in advance I should've made for you guys or ask Dr. Julien to make it. Since not…you'll just have to deal with it…however…" She lifted the tray up over her abdomen, "I did manage to make oxygen masks for you guys."

When Cara saw there were only four, she began to wonder. "There's only four? Is one of us not coming?"

"I won't be needing of Oxygen mask." Zane replied, "It will be yours to use."

Cara cocked her head, "How come?" Jay wrapped his arm around Zane's shoulder and pulled him close, "Because this guy right here…can hold his breath longer than any of us. And! He can withstand extreme cold temperatures. Surprised, Cara was amazed by Zane's ability. "Really? That's so cool! I can see why you're the ninja of ice."

Kai took the oxygen mask and wore it, "Well…it's now or never." He climbed up the ledge, getting ready to dive, "Here g—!" Nya shoved her brother into the freezing ocean before Kai could even finish his sentence. Jay and Cole have already worn their masks, bursting laughter at Kai, whose teeth chattering from the cold.

Jay laughed, "You should've seen your fa—!" Again, Nya had the opportunity to push her boyfriend to the icy water. Once Jay surfaced, his expression was the same as Kai, shivering and their teeth chattering.

"N-N-Nya…yu—you sh…sh…should ha…ha…have to-told m…me bef-f-f-fore you pushed me!" Jay stuttered furiously.

Nya giggled, "Awww….but where's the fun in that?" She looked at Cole and smirked. The ninja of earth gulped, "It's my turn to be pushed, isn't it?"

And it was pretty obvious what happens next….

Kai, Jay, and Cole were already in the water, freezing to death. Now, all they need was Zane and Cara to join in. Cara felt butterflies in her stomach as she stared down at the ocean. Zane could tell she was nervous.

"Are you going to be alright?" He asked calmly.

Cara released a breath then spoke wearily, "I've just never…and I mean _never_ …tried swimming this cold."

"Just do what I do. Try not to think the water is cold. It's one of my techniques." As Zane said this, he shakily took her hand in his. Cara softly blushed at his gesture before taking a deep breath, calming her nerves. Afterwards, they both dove right into the bone-chilling water.

When they hit the water, Cara gasped at the sudden shock of cold. She quickly tried to remember Zane's advice. "Try not think it's cold…Try not to think it's cold…Try not to think it's cold!" Soon enough, she began to adapt to the temperature. "Hey…I think it's working!"

The problem is…How long will she be able to think it's not cold?

Cole called out, "Hey guys! What are you waiting for? We're turning into popsicles here!"

"Sorry!" Cara yelled. And with this, she glanced back to Zane, "Let's go." Once they saw Cara swam down to the ocean, Cole, Jay, and Kai swam down as well. Zane took a deep breath he could muster and followed the rest.

In the meantime, Snappa was terribly freezing. His hideout was the coldest part of the ship since cold temperature drops down from the upper deck. As soon as he found out the ninjas' second location of the gem, he already made contact with General Skales. Not far from the north artic regions, Skales and the three generals were inside their rattlecopter and had just received Snappa's message.

"The ninjasssss are in the arctic ocean…sssswimming their way to find the gem." Skales proclaimed.

Left-headed Fangtom spoke, "Our body cannot withstand that kind of temperature, Skalessss. We're already cold blooded!"

"Who sayssss we are going to ssswim? We might asss well wait for the ninjasss to ssssurface. And once they do…" He swung his arm to his chest, "We'll just ssssnatch it from them!"

"Or…" Right-headed Fangtom added, "We could try a different approach."

"What do you mean?" Skallidor asked curiously.

Left-headed Fangtom replied, "What my partner trying to sssay wassss…we ssshould take the girl with ussss and we'll force her to find the gemssss! With that kind of resultssss, we will have the gems in our grassssp and ninjasss will have nothing."

Skales didn't like the idea, feeling insulted. He looked up at Fangtom furiously, "Are you questioning my planssss?!" He sneered, "We're doing exactly what I planned!"

"Face it Skalessss! Your plan did not work well when they have the first gem…" Acidicus snapped, "If we want out freedom back…we need to do ssssomething better!"

As much as Skales wanted to disagree, Acidicus was right. He sighed heavily, "Fine…"

Then, he glanced outside where he saw their new master's pet, flying right beside the rattlecopter without being cut to pieces by the propeller. Its red eye glared at Skales and just looked away as it flew away fast ahead of them towards the north arctic region. Skales have a feeling the bird heard their conversations.

Back in the icy water, Cara and the ninjas continued to swim deeply to the ocean. Cara's pendant flashed in normal pace. All they could see was chunks of ice above them and floating around them. There were only few marine creatures swimming by, but they didn't bother to know why. It was a good thing they could still talk underwater thanks to Nya's full covered oxygen masks. Zane however, was comfortable just the way he is.

"Auuh…I can't feel my hands anymore!" Kai complained, "How long do you think we're going to stay here? I feel like I'm turning into an ice cube!"

"Remind me to tell Nya to build a submarine the next time we have a mission like this." Cole suggested, swimming beside Jay.

"I'm way ahead of you on that one!" Jay responded, resisting the coldness.

Not a minute or so, they saw the ocean floor from their distance. And from that distance, was a sunken ship lying near the edge of a cliff. Everyone stopped where they were, astounded at the sight before them.

"Wow…it's so beautiful." Cara said softly. All of a sudden, her necklace began to flash in rapid pace. That's when Cara realized the gemstone's hidden location. "Guys, I think the gem is hiding in that ship!"

"Alright brothers…" Cole confirmed, "Let's get that gem and get out of here before we freeze to death!" And so, all of them started paddling their legs towards the sunken vessel. Each of them began searching through different parts of the ship. Kai and Cara looked over the deck. Cole and Zane searched the entire hull. Jay peered through the port holes, but it was too dark see it. Though, from the corner of his eyes, he saw a faint glow coming from the crevice. Jay beamed, assuming it was the gemstone. "Hey guys! I found it."

Kai swam close above Jay, "What are you waiting for? Grab it!" As Jay stretched out his hand to reach the glowing gem, he heard a growling noise below the crack. He quickly pulled his hand back while he glanced around, confused. "What was that?!" Jay asked out loud.

He shrugged, "Eh probably just my stomach!" When he turns back to the crevice, Jay stiffened with his eyes shut open, seeing a monstrous fish glaring dead at him.

The creature only revealed its head while the body was still in the crevice. It had a similar head of an angler fish with long razor sharp teeth exposed from the side of its mouth and his glowing lantern antenna.

He gulped then chuckled nervously before swimming wildly to his friends. The monstrous creature growled furiously at Jay for disturbing his slumber. By the time Kai, Zane, Cara, and Cole heard the beast, they saw Jay swimming towards them being chased by a giant fish as its elongated body emerged from the crack.

Without hesitation, all of them immediately swam away. Just then, when the creature passed by them, Cara noticed her pendant was blinking faster than before but it became slower and slower after the monstrous fish swam away. She got confused why her pendant did that, but soon enough she thought the gem was in the ship, she was wrong…

It turns out the fish was only chasing Jay while the others were watching him swim for his life. But of course, Cole would not allow Jay being eaten by that thing.

"We need to get that fish away from Jay!" Cole Commanded, "Kai, maybe you can use your spinjitzu against that thing."

"Using spinjitzu underwater?" Kai said in doubt, "Would that even work?"

Zane held Kai's shoulder and nodded in recognition. Cole hunched, "I'm guessing what Zane is trying to say…_There's always a first time." _Zane nodded in confirmation, knowing Cole was correct.

With this, Kai swam close to the beast. Meanwhile, Jay kept swimming away in all sorts of direction, just trying to get away from becoming a fish food as the giant angler eel kept snapping its jaws at him.

"ANYTIME NOW GUYS!" He cried hectically. Fortunately, Kai had arrived. He twisted his body to the right and yelled. "NINJAAAAGOO!"

A massive water spout created by Kai's whirlwind slammed into the monstrous fish. In results, the beast was tossed away far from their distance. Jay finally stopped swimming.

He panted, "What…took…you…so…long…?" While Cara was watching the monster fish opens its jaws, she noticed there was something gleaming between its lower teeth. She came to the conclusion why her pendant blinked fast when the giant angler eel came close to them, because the gem is inside its mouth!

Jay and Kai managed to retreat back to Cole, safe and sound. "Great job, Kai!" Cole announced, giving Kai high-five.

Cara came in, "You never should have make that thing go away!" Kai and Cole cocked their heads in puzzlement. "Don't you think it's the other way around?" Kai replied, "That thing almost chewed Jay."

Jay crossed his arms over his chest, "Yeah! Thanks for noticing that Cara!"

Cara shook her head, "No…you don't understand." She pointed her hand at the creature's mouth, "The gem is inside its mouth. It's stuck between its teeth!"

The four ninjas turned their gaze at the beast's mouth as it opens its jaws. They noticed a violet gem shaped like an eye, was indeed jammed between its teeth.

"We need to lure that things to us and get the gem." Cara implied, "We can't let it escape."

Kai asked, "How are we suppose to grab that gem without our hands being chopped!?"

Suddenly, Zane had an idea. He glanced back at the wrecked ship. He was planning to lure the fish through the gaps and around the masts to tangle the body just like what they did with the great devourer. The only problem was…how to tell them since he can't talk underwater.

Zane began to wave his arm, trying to catch their attention. When they did, he gestured his arms for a play of charades.

"Dude, there's not time to play charades. We have bigger problems!" Kai said seriously.

Cole raised an eyebrow, "I think he's trying to tell us something…what is it Zane?"

Zane pointed his hand towards the monstrous creature afar, and then to the sunken ship. He hoped they would get it the first try.

"Ok? The fish and the ship?" Cole pondered for a moment what Zane was trying to say, but there was none, "What about it?"

Next, Zane slithered his arm, pretending it was the fish, and then coils it around to his other arm. After this, he pointed again at the ship.

"Ooh! Ooh! I know!" Jay answered, "You want the fish to hug the ship!"

Zane gave up as he smacked his hand to his face and hopelessly drags it down to his chin. If he could talk, he would have say it to them directly the answer.

However, Cara seemed to get his charades. She darted back at the creature again and at the sunken ship. She thought of Zane's arm coiling his other arm, plus the ship he pointed out. That's when it dawned to her!

"I think what he's trying to say was…we need the fish to go through the ship until its body gets tangled!" Then, she just remembered from Zane's stories. Cara gasped, "Just like that giant evil snake you guys stopped!"

Zane was impressed. He gazed at Cara, smiling. _"Good thing I shared those past adventures with her."_ He thought.

Once everyone got it, Cole explained how to execute the plan properly. He told Cara to stay hidden for awhile whereas the rest will take care of the situation. Although, while having their meeting, they didn't know the giant angler eel was hurdling towards them, this time, with more rage.

"Jay, you'll be the bait!" Cole ordered.

"WHAT?!" Jay snapped, "Why do I have to be the bait? I almost became a fish food because of that thing!" When their backs were turned, Kai was the only one who suspected the monster fish approaching them. He spoke to Jay, "Maybe because you're its favorite..?" Afterwards, he signaled Jay to look behind.

"Huh?" Jay whirled around, seeing the creature he hates, coming for him. "OH YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!"

Jay paddled his legs as fast as he could, becoming the bait he is. Cole, Zane, and Kai swam to their position. Cara was hiding behind a large fan coral for her safety. The plan was… Jay must lure the beast to Cole then to Zane then to Kai, who was going to do the tangling moment once the fish gets to him. When it got to Kai, He didn't know the giant angler eel was close to Cara's hideout, making her pendant glow brighter and brighter.

As Kai watched the creature hurdling it way to him, his eyebrows furrowed, concentrating at the beast when all of a sudden, the giant angler eel just stopped half its way to him. This made Kai wonder why. Cole, Jay, Cara, and Zane witnessed it and they were all puzzled. Soon, the creature slowly glared down at Cara, staring at her glowing pendant. It somehow attracted to it.

This wasn't good…It wasn't what Cole hope to be.

Instead of the beast going after Kai, it went directly to Cara. "SWIM AWAY, CARA!" Cole shouted.

Cara's heart was pounding with fear. She kicked the ground to add more force for her to swim up as the fish crashed against the hard ocean floor. Seeing her in danger, the four ninjas went for her aid, but then something went wrong with Cole, Jay, and Kai.

They were staying too long under the freezing water. Their body could not handle the temperature any longer. They felt their bones as if turned to ice. It was only a matter of time before they reach hyperthermia…

Zane could almost feel losing air in his lungs, but enough to help everyone.

Kai clenched teeth, resisting the shock of coldness, "We… need to… help Cara!" Though their bodies may be close to frozen, they would not give up. Cara on the other hand, struggled to escape from the mighty jaws of the creature, swimming herself away from it.

_"I need this thing to stop chasing me!" _She thought, _"Maybe I should…"_ Cara thought about it carefully. She knew it was Kai's job to do it, but it was the only way she could shake it off her back. Could she do it?

_"Here goes!"_ She thought loudly.

And so, she began swimming faster towards the ship. Cole and the three saw Cara swimming her way inside the ship. They were shocked, knowing she was in real peril and she was defenseless.

"We need to help her— C'mon!" Kai commanded. The four of them swam their way towards the vessel.

Cara found a huge gap right below the hull for an entrance. She swam through it, and found out it was darker inside. It was a good thing the creature was chasing her or else her pendant wouldn't light up the dark. Inside the ship, Cara made it to the storage room of the ship. There were still crates covered in molds, scattered all over the place and old fishing nets dangling from the ceiling. She darted at every direction, searching a perfect spot to tangle the monster's elongated body.

Not too far from her distance, she found an open chamber with connecting rooms all over the storage area. Beamed, Cara used it for her advantage!

As she entered the first chamber, she took a left turn to the other room then swam to the right while the giant angler eel chased after her, without realizing its body started to create a maze within the area. Just then, the beast was gaining closer at her just inches to bite her legs off. Its jaws opened, reaching to eat her flesh…

_"Oh no you don't! I've lost some of my body parts and I'm not losing another!" _Cara thought to herself with determination as she quickly swam faster just when the creature snapped its jaws.

It took three turns of left and right alternatively, until she made it out at the end of the chamber. Right in front of her, she saw four poles surprisingly still intact, aligned vertically.

This time, she decided to make a serpentine maneuver once she swim pass through it. After she did that, Cara began to look for an exit. Luckily, she saw a huge hole at the stern.

A loud growl was heard behind her, she looked back and the angler eel was still chasing at her with its body knitted around the wooden poles. That was a good sign.

Outside, the light from Cara's pendant peered wildly through the holes around the wrecked ship. It could only mean that Cara is still being chased by the beast. Zane was really worried about her. He intended to go inside the vessel so that he'll aid her as fast as possible. But it stopped him when he saw another entrance by the stern. He thought it would be better to go through it because it was an easier access. All of a sudden, the light they once saw vanished in an instant. Cole, Jay, Kai, and Zane thought she might be taken.

"Oh no..!" Jay said worriedly.

Alarmed, Zane rushed into the stern. Unexpectedly, a blow of debris burst out from the scene as clouds of dusts swirled around him before he could enter the ship. He swam through the murky water when an object hit him, making him flip head over heels.

As he spun out of control, Zane realized it wasn't just any object by the way it grabbed him. When the clouded water dissipated, it was Cara who had just collided with Zane the minute she escaped through the stern.

Once Zane stopped spinning, as well as Cara, he quickly gazed back at her and swam for her aid. Opening her eyes, Cara's sight was still a blur, but soon became clear. She was surprise seeing the white ninja looking at her with a promising smile in his face. However, she darted at the vessel again, hoping her maneuvers would be enough to trap the monstrous fish…which it did!

The giant angler eel's body was now coiled, tangled, and knotted inside the sunken vessel.

"I…I…did it…" Cara spoke softly then beamed, "I did it!"

Zane, who was flabbergasted, witnessed the creature being trapped by Cara, and he was ever more amazed.

_"This is unbelievable!"_ He thought, _"She did it!"_

Cole, Jay, and Kai arrived at the scene while they watch the beast squirmed to get out as it kept snapping its jaws at them. The three hurried towards Cara, astonished at the way she successfully ensnared the creature that once the hunter, now their prey.

Kai gave her a pat on the back, "You did it Cara! You got some skills!"

Jay grinned and nodded, "Yeah! We thought you were a goner! But you just proved that thing whose boss!"

Flattered, Cara stroked her hair down, feeling shy, "Oh. Thanks you guys…" She shrugged, "I didn't know I could swim that fast."

"Now, all we need is to pull the gem out." Cole intended. He glanced over the deck and saw a mast still standing strong. "C'mon!"

The four ninjas, including Cara, swam towards the mast. With Cole's strength, he managed to snap the mast and planned to use it to jam the snapping jaws of the fish so that they could pull the gemstone out. Now, all they need is perfect timing. Kai, Zane, and Jay were holding the mast together, while Cole will bring the go-signal. He observed the number of times the fish close its jaws and the number of times it opens. After counting, he found an opportunity in the last second.

"Now!" He commanded. With that, the three quickly jammed the mast between its jaws, preventing it from closing. Cara swam close to the mouth and then she pulled out the gem from the lower teeth. Victory is now in their grasp.

"We have the gem!" Cara cheered.

"Let's get out of here! This ship won't last long to keep this ugly fish." Cole said.

Kai sighed in relief, "Finally! I can't even feel my legs anymore…Literally!"

At this moment, they were all ready to leave the freezing ocean, when suddenly the beast's tail lashed out from the starboard then coils it around Zane before he could swam away.

"ZANE!" Cara cried, seeing him in danger. Its strength squeezed his body, leaving his mouth agape wherein making him to lose oxygen. And then, the monster just whipped him away.

The three ninjas were about to help him, but their body could not move any longer, for they were nearly paralyzed from the cold.

"Zane..!" Kai called out, freezing.

Cara could almost feel her body too, becoming paralyzed, but she needed to save Zane more.

Zane on the other hand, lost amounts of air in his lungs. In fact his lungs were really burning. The bad news about it was… there wasn't enough for him to reach the surface. He could drown first. But to Zane's surprise, Cara had arrived, taking off her oxygen mask. With her kind generosity, she puts it on Zane, so that he could have the oxygen he needs. Zane was surprised at first by her gesture yet he realized Cara was indeed returning back the favor.

When he wore the mask, he mustered all that air he needed. He gazed at Cara and said, "Thank you…" Cara smiled and winked at him, telling him _'You're welcome.'_ Zane and Cara began swimming up towards Cole, Jay, and Kai, who were still immobile, enduring the pain of cold.

Grabbing Cole and Kai's wrists, Zane helped them swim back to the surface, while Cara held Jay.

For the meantime, Nya was waiting by the balcony staring worriedly at the icy ocean. It had been twenty minutes since they dove in, and there were no signs of her brother or any of them emerged. She thought they could be in trouble below or all of them froze to death, but doubt that since Zane is with them. She sighed heavily, "Where are you guys..?"

Just then, ruptures of bubbles were starting to appear in the surface. Nya gazed at it, praying it would be her friends coming up. Apparently, Nya first saw Cole, Zane, and Kai surfaced. Cara and Jay came second.

Nya beamed and yelled, "Guys quickly! Get in the ship!" Even if Nya didn't say that, they were all way ahead of her. Below the icy water was already cold, but when exposed to the atmosphere, it was five times worst.

* * *

It had been a long day gone. The sun has already left the sky and the moon rose upon it.

The Destiny's Bounty was still drifting in the icy water.

"I'm so glad you guys are back." Nya said calmly, holding a tray of hot soup, "I made you guys some soup too." In the bridge, Kai, Jay, Cara, and Cole were soaking their feet in a bucket of freshly boiled water. They needed it since they have stayed underwater too long, especially when the temperature was abnormal.

Nya gave each one a bowl of soup. "We're happy to be back too, Nya." Jay replied, receiving a bowl of soup from her.

"But you know what else I'm happy about?" Kai interfered, "Getting off this frozen wasteland!"

He looked at his sister, "Hey Nya, when are we going to leave?"

Nya paused then breathe through clenched teeth, "…About that guys…"

Kai's eyes widened, "What do you mean by that..? Don't te—"

"The sparks plugs of the engine sort of melted…and now we can't be airborne nor sailing because both our rudders were completely frozen from the water." Nya explained.

"Wait!" Jay suddenly lifted his feet, creating a messy splash, "How did the sparks plug melted if we're in this cold ocean? That doesn't make any sense!" Then, he puts his feet back in the bucket, making another splash.

"Well, my theory was…it must've started to melt when we were airborne and the engine was hot." She rubbed the back of her neck. "I guess…Dr. Julien was right all along."

Soaked from Jay's feet-splashing gesture, Cole glared at him but glance at Nya, "So…how are you going to fix it?"

Nya sighed, "I've already told him about it and he seemed upset when he found out. He said he'll just check it tomorrow morning."

Kai snapped, "Aww what!? You mean we get to stay here for a day!?"

Cara, who had just finish her soup, spoke, "Look at the bright side Guys…At least we have the second gemstone. The best part about it, those snakes didn't come to take it from us."

Cole crossed his arm over his chest, being serious, "Which is why it makes me worry…"

"Pfff! Please!" Jay protested, "We have the two gems and serpentines have zero!"

Raising an eyebrow, Cole looked at him, "Remember the last time we had the four fang blades in our hands? Which we thought we won but didn't because we lower our guards down and letting Pythor steal it from us? Guess what!" He swiftly waved his arm left, "I will not let that happen again! If the Sensei was here right now, he would have said the same."

Kai sunk in his chair, "Don't remind me about Sensei! I already hate it he's somewhere out there enjoying his vacation, while we're stuck here in the North Pole!"

"By the way…" Nya began, "What happened to you guys underwater? I want to know how you got the gem."

Cole answered, "Don't ask us…" He pointed at Cara, "Ask her. She's the main reason why we got it."

Nya gasped in surprise, "Really?! Tell me about it Cara."

"Technically, we all did." Cara protested kindly. She gazed down at her necklace, reminiscing that moment when she ensnared the creature with her bravery, "I guess I didn't know I have it in me…"

She felt that adrenaline rushing through her veins and through her circuit wires in her robotic appendages, which they didn't know about. Before, she used to listen from their stories. But now, it was her turn to share it to everyone.

Although Cara looked away, her smile shifted into a frown. She wondered about Zane why he wasn't in the room with them. She thought he would have loved hearing it.

* * *

The next cold morning, Dr. Julien had woken up early just so he could start repairing the engine…again. Cara had just woke up as well, entered the bridge. While she was walking from the lower hall, she heard loud rackets coming from the bridge. She figured if who was already there. But then, found out Dr. Julien was in there gathering some tools he needed.

"Good morning Dr. Julien…You're really early today." Cara greeted.

"Good morning too Cara!" Dr. Julien replied enthusiastically. He lowered his glasses, "You're also early too."

"Good morning you two!" Nya Came in to the room, "You two are early..?"

Dr. Julien and Cara exchanged glanced at one another and both laughed.

Cara chuckled, "I guess we're all early then, huh?"

"Well then…Since you two ladies are awake." Dr. Julien closed the toolbox, "Maybe you can help me start repairing the engine."

Nya shrugged her shoulders, "Of course! So…how are we exactly going to fix it?"

Dr. Julien leaned his elbow on the table and his hands clasped under his chin, "According from the damage I witnessed last night…The terminals of the spark plugs were severely melted and not mention the center electrode needed to replace a much stronger metal in order for it to work." He sighed sadly, "Unfortunately…it will be harder for us to find that kind of metal since we're in the middle of the arctic region. We might as well search around the ship. Titanium should do better."

_"Titanium?!" _Cara just remembered her special black dragon hairclips her aunt gave. And…the one she used to unlock the door when she was trying to runaway.

She began digging her pockets, "I think I have that…here…"

Surprised, and Nya exchanged glances at each other then looked back at Cara, confused the fact Cara would have one. "You do?" Nya questioned.

Once Cara pulled it out from her pocket, she showed it to them. The hairclip had a carved dragon made from titanium, coiled around the pin. "It was a gift from my aunt. Whenever she travels around Ninjago, she would always give me gifts from different walks of life…"

Just remembering she said that, made her realize her aunt has goodness in her. Then again, she also thought her aunt Helswig was only giving her the ugly gifts because that's what she usually tells her…

Cara gave it the hairclip to Dr. Julien, "Maybe this could help..?"

They both observed the hairclip. To be honest, Nya found it pretty and Dr. Julien smiled, thinking it was precisely what they needed. Nya frowned, "Are you sure you want this to use for the engine? It looks very pretty…and imported."

"I'm sure, Nya. Besides it's our only hope to fix the bounty." Cara glanced back at Dr. Julien, "So…will it work?"

"Work?!" He said, sounding in doubt. The two girls were startled but Dr. Julien added, "Of course it will work! This is exactly what we needed!" Nya and Cara beamed.

"That's great!" Cara exclaimed blissfully, "Wait! I think I have another one in my pocket…"

She jammed her hand back in her pockets, groping for the other hairclip. But then, she felt a different object, a much wider in size. She pulled out the object and discovered the second gemstone of the underworld was still in her pocket.

Eyes widened, Cara felt disappointed of herself. How could she have forgotten one of the most powerful items in Ninjago was still in her pocket? She could not even shake the thought about the possibilities the gem would drop from her pocket and lose it. Or, the serpentine would have just snatches it from her pocket.  
Cara gave herself a face-palmed for being careless, "I'm so sorry…I forgot to give this to you Nya…I guess I got distracted from last night." It was true though, Cara truly enjoyed hanging out with Nya and the ninjas. They had a lot of moments of laughter, especially the part where Jay had been chased by that strange fish. Cara was busy sharing her underwater adventure with everyone she had forgotten all about the gemstone.

Nya clung her hand over Cara's shoulder in comfort, "It's ok Cara…You can just put in my room. There's a special container by the shelf. It's where I hide the gems."

Cara sighed in relief, "You're right…I should better put this one." With that, Cara exited the room, walking her way to Nya's room. When she did get out, a cold breeze brushed on Cara's face…a really cold breeze. She felt that arctic air in the morning as she stretched her arms.

Cara was about to go downstairs when something screech by the balcony. She paused and slowly turned to the balcony, and what came after that, made her gasp in utter surprise.

"A falcon…" She said as she approached the bird. The bird flapped its wings, stretching. It cocked its head here and there when Cara was in front of her. Cara gently placed her hand over the falcon's head, planning to give it a massage, just like what she usually does with Snow.

"Hello there…" Cara managed to rub its head, and it seemed the falcon likes it.

However, she suddenly remembered about her owl, Snow. Thinking about it, made her sad knowing Snow was still trap in her miserable home. "You remind me of my friend right now…"

"You have a bird too?" A familiar tone of voice heard behind. Cara whirled around and saw Zane looking at her. The falcon flew away and then perched on Zane's left arm as he was glad to see his feathered friend again. Cara realized the falcon must have belonged to him.

"Wait…that falcon is yours?" Cara asked, "I didn't know you have a pet bird. How come I don't see him around?"

Zane shrugged, "Actually, Falcon is more than a pet to me. He's my best friend. And the reason why he's not always around…is because he is free to go wherever he wants to…just as long as he knows to return." Then, Falcon flew above the ship. As Cara watched it fly, she couldn't stop thinking about Snow, she wished Snow was just as free as Falcon, instead of being locked in a cage whenever her aunt is around. Heck, there was no difference about it whether being inside a cage or being stuck inside the house. It was considered locked in. But more importantly, she wished she was free in her own will.

"I assume your friend is a falcon too?" Zane said unsure.

"Actually…it's an owl. Her name is Snow. I just found her in my backyard alone when I was little…" Cara released a small breath, "So…I took her in and raised her. It's funny too… It took me two years to teach her how to fly…Silly right?"

Zane flashed a hint of smile about her little story about her owl, Snow. He didn't know there were something they both in common with, but soon, his smile turned away and so does his eyes. There was a strange silence around them, and Cara noticed the way he acted. She was concern about him.

"Zane…" She said calmly, "Are you alright? You seem a little distracted…is there something bothering you?" Indeed, there was something bothering Zane. But what was it?

"I need to confess something to you…" He began nervously, "I should have told you this when you first aboard the bounty…"

Cara felt her heart sunk to her knees. She sensed something from him, but couldn't tell what it is. "Wh-what is it? Is it bad?"

Zane looked down at the wooden mahogany floor as his thoughts were running deeply. For the past couple of weeks, he just realized yesterday that he hadn't been honest about himself to her. And that _different was _he knew Cara will be shock about once she finds out. The question was…what made him hold back?

When Zane was about to gaze back at Cara, he felt his head suddenly hit out by a hard striking object as he came tumbling down the staircase to the hall then knocked forcefully against the wall, leaving a loud thud. It happened so fast, he didn't sense it was coming for him.

Cara gasped in total shock, when a huge bird with one red eye and a long scar on the other, reaching down to its beak, just suddenly appeared from no where and knocked Zane out.

Opening his eyes, Zane was slightly unconscious from the impact. Just then, he heard Cara screaming for help. His eyes widened, knowing Cara was in great danger. "Cara!"

Alarmed, Dr. Julien and Nya heard a loud scream coming from the deck. Cole, Jay, and Kai heard it as well.

"What was that?!" Jay asked, startled.

"It sounded like Cara..!" Kai exclaimed.

"We better help her NOW!" Cole declared, steel in his voice. So, all three of them ran towards to the source. The minute Zane went back outside, Cara was no where to be found. He glanced at every direction until he heard her voice above him.

He darted up and was flabbergast to see a bird carrying Cara high above the air. "ZANE! " Cara cried, struggling to escape from the bird's grip. The bird was holding Cara by the hood, making her harder to breathe. The three ninjas just arrived at the scene as well.

"Zane, what's happening?" Cole asked. But he hesitated to wait for his answer, when he noticed Zane was looking up. He did the same and was shocked like everyone else.

"What the—! That is one ugly-strange looking bird I have ever seen!" Jay announced rashly.

With Zane's falcon around, he commanded, "Falcon!" Falcon swiftly swooshed towards the enemy bird and with everyone's surprise, it clawed the strange bird at the left wing.

Jay punched his fist in the air, "Alright! Go team Falcon!"

It suddenly let go of Cara, falling to the deck. Cara was now safely back on the ship. The four ninjas immediately ran to her. They surrounded her for protection against their feathered enemy.

Zane looked over his shoulder, "Cara, on my signal…go inside the ship where it is much safer."

Cara nodded, panting "I… will!" The red-eyed bird managed to take control of its wings again while it glared at Falcon. It quickly flew to him and scratched Falcon's right wing including its leg, making him to have technical difficulties. Falcon began to drop altitude with its left wing supporting him and his right damaged. An opportunity struck for the red-eyed bird.

Zane knew it was coming for Cara again. "Cara. Go inside now!" He ordered. Cara did what Zane told her but she completely stopped when she felt her pocket became lighter. She groped her pocket and discovered the gem was no longer with her! It must've slipped out from her pocket when she fell.

"Oh no!" She cried, searching in every direction, especially on the floor. Not a minute or so, she found it near the edge of the balcony. She knew Zane needed her to be safe, but she couldn't allow herself to lose the gem because of her carelessness. After that, instead of running inside the ship, she ran to get the gem.

"Cara! What are you doing?!" Kai yelled, "You need to get in—Oof!" Before Kai could even finish, the bird flew towards Cole and slammed him with its full-body force. In result, Cole was knocked down along with his three friends like bowling pins.

"Ouch…That bird needs to go!" Jay proclaimed, standing up from his fall.

As the bird spun then fiercely spread its wings to a stop, Kai could not help himself but to say, "Don't tell me that thing knows how to spinjitzu!"

Its eyes focused on Cara, who was running her way towards the gem. Without warning, it glided back to her.

Cara noticed the bird was coming for her again while she ran as fast as she could, winning to get the item. In few seconds, Cara managed to grab the gemstone in her hand. "I got it!"

When Cara turned to her right, the bird was already one and a half meters close from her, enough to severely claw her face! Just then, Zane had just jumped before her, shielding her from getting injured. For Cara, it felt like the world was in slow motion…she could not believe Zane had just saved her from the menacing bird as she witnessed its claws literally scraped Zane's face near his left eye.

Miraculously, Falcon emerged again to flight when it sensed his master was in danger. This time, with its strength left in its system, it used its talons to slash the red-eye bird completely by the head. Afterwards, the enemy has finally retreated, flying away from the ship. Which means, victory was once again for the ninjas.

"Yeah you better fly off, coward!" Kai taunted loudly.

Meanwhile, Zane was lying on the floor. His hand covering his left part of the face, obscured from everyone. Cara went to his aid.

She grabbed his shoulders so he can turn him to face her, "Zane are you alright?!" But what came after that only made has gasped in shock as she suddenly backed away.

It turns out…Zane's left eye along with his cheek was completely singed, exposing his robotic parts.

Cara spoke, her hands cupped her lips, "Z—Zane…y-you're…you're a _robot_?!"

Is that what Zane was going to confess her?

* * *

**Chapter Nine: Odds and Ends (Part 1)**

The bird had failed to take Cara away. And, the bounty was once again sailing through the skies thanks to Cara's black dragon hairpin. If it wasn't for her, they would have stranded in the arctic region, which Kai could not bare to stay. Although, they could not get their minds off about the sudden attack of a feathered creature.

They have been discussing about it over more than an hour in the bridge.

"Maybe the bird is just…hungry?" Jay fumbled, "I mean…some birds eat meat, right?"

Kai raised an eyebrow at Jay, "If that's the case, it would have just grab any of us. Plus, how come it was also after the gem? That thing didn't quit from reaching it!"

Cole however, felt something wrong in his guts. For the past few weeks, he knew he have been thinking about the serpentines and how will they show up, whenever he and his brothers tries to take the gemstone away. But a bird like that would not just show up and strike…not unless it was ordered to do it.

He sighed heavily, his arms crossed over his chest, "I don't know you guys…but I have a weird feeling that bird was working for someone…"

Jay's face contorted, "What?! You mean those snakes?! Don't you think that would be a weird partnership? Birds and snakes don't get along, you know."

"Jay is right…"Zane spoke, his damaged face restored, "It is unlikely for the snakes to be partnered with a bird. According from my analysis yesterday, the bird Falcon fought was called an eagle."

"A hideous eagle." Kai interrupted, remembering the bird's unusual features.

Zane continued, "However…Cole might be up to something."

"So have you guys talked about it?" Nya just walked into the bridge, "Any sides I need to know from yesterday?"

"So far we only have theories…" Cole answered, "What about Cara's pendant? Did it reveal the next third location?"

Nya shook, "Not really…it hasn't show any signs lately…"

When Cole had mentioned her name, it made Zane feel terrible. He remembered the way Cara looked at him, it was a pure shock. He should've told her before, but there was a reason why he didn't. But then, to think his face was nearly restored, it began to slowly peel off whereas it makes that sticky sound. Everyone in the room heard it as they just watched it drop to the table like a wet pancake.

Jay covered his mouth, trying not to hurl. His face began to turn green. He knew Zane very well as a nindroid, but with an artificial skin close to a human, made him think it was an actual human skin, stripping from his flesh, even though Zane doesn't have real flesh.

"Eeeew…." Nya said in disgust.

"Dude, I thought your father already fix that for you?" Kai asked.

Zane sighed, "I was planning to tell him, but I don't want to disturb him right now. He's been creating a new engine for the bounty."

"Well you better fix it soon! Because…" Cole resisting not to vomit, "Just get it…done soon…"

Zane didn't give any answer. Instead, he just took his exo-skin on the table and walked out the room simple as that. For some reason, he could not stand being with his brothers or to be in a crowd. He wanted to be alone for he was still frustrated at them for the past few days and at the same time, he felt bad from the whole event after Cara found out what he really was.

Afterwards, Zane decided to go to the kitchen, where he can start repairing his face.

"It only needed a good fit…" He mumbled, attaching his exo-skin back, "How hard could it be? I've done it before."

But every time he would puts it back on his face, it kept falling off and off and off again. Besides the frustration from his brothers, this one added as well.

"Do you need help from that?" A soft familiar voice was heard from behind. Zane turned around and was surprised Cara was standing by the doorway. Her countenance was calm yet a gentle smile remains. The nindroid's right eye went wide than usual, since his left have no capability to move. He was surprised Cara managed to see him, after what he had done.

"Cara..!" Zane spoke but looked away, staring at the sink, ashamed. "There's no need. I can do it on my own…"

Cara frowned. She knew he had a hard time putting it back on his face when she was watching him from the dining room. Though, Cara didn't mean to do it, she was only going to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. But she didn't expect Zane would be there.

Walking to him, Cara managed to give him a hint of smile as she picked up Zane's artificial skin from his hand making him look at her. She began to stretch it a little then carefully place it over his left eye. Zane on the other hand, was speechless. He felt a blush coming on his right cheek at her gesture. At that moment, silence engulfed them while Cara was busy helping until finally Zane began.

"Cara…" He said calmly, "I just want to say how terribly sorry I am…I was going to tell you on the deck when I saw you…about what I really am. I just didn't know how to start…saying it"

With those words, it made Cara pause of what she was doing, gazing at him with sympathy.

Deep down, Cara wasn't really upset with him nor was she angry about the fact he didn't tell her soon. Though she was shock few hours ago, but she had that feeling wherein she envied Zane.

Zane had the courage to tell her he was a robot or what Jay told her that he was called nindroid while Cara was too afraid to admit to everyone about her life of solitude and her horrible past. Would she even care if she didn't? Cara thought if she did tell, they might start to think of her like one of those people who belonged in the circus, where the unusual being lived.

"Zane it's ok…" She replied, "I'm actually glad you were being… honest with me."

Zane would have expect from his calculations of probability that Cara will be upset at him as soon as he admits to her the truth, but of course, nindroid like himself get mistakes. In its place, he was stunned of her answer, and could not help himself but to feel overwhelm, smiling.

"Really? You're not mad?" He asked in disbelief.

"Yes."

Although for Cara, she thought consciously, staring down on Zane's artificial skin in her grasp.

_"I wish could do the same…telling you what I really am…" _

Just by looking at it, reminded her that she needed to put it back on his face.

She gazed at him, "Now...hold still." Cara stretched it again, and gently pressed it on his face.

Zane started to wonder. "Cara...how come you don't seem to be…disgusted? Unlike the others they would act squeamish of it."

How can Cara be disgusted, if she has the same as his only not too technical?

She shrugged, "I guess…I'm not." A minute later, she accomplished to stick his skin in a perfect fit.

To Zane's surprise, it didn't fall off. "How did you..?" He placed his hand over his left face, giving it a little rub, amazed by the results. He assumed, he will no longer ask his father to repair it.

Cara was happy with the results. It was a good thing

Zane nodded, "Thank you…"

"Your welcome." Cara answered. After that, she leaned against the sink counter beside Zane. "So…you're a nindroid, huh?" She didn't know why she had asked, but it was only to start a conversation and a question she was leading to ask.

Zane leaned beside her, "Yes I am. Jay was the one who called me nindroid…though it made sense why."

Again, there was another three seconds of silence, then Cara asked, "Zane…I know I'm not upset with you but…" She looked at Zane in the eyes, "How come you didn't tell me before? You know…when I first saw you or when I aboard the bounty?"

Zane stiffened. He looked away down, his eyes focused on his feet. This time, he was cornered.

"Because I…" He took a deep breath as he closed his eyes and released heavily. "Because I was afraid you would treat me different…"

Cara's eyes went wide, shocked yet confused at his response. Before she could ask another why, she waited for Zane to say more, which eventually he did.

"Yesterday…I had realized I haven't told you about me being a nindroid. I was busy thinking about it. But for the past couple of days, my brothers were treating me differently as if I was a video game device, a toaster, and even an electric charger for Jay's invention. Because of that, I got frustrated at them." Zane looked back at Cara, "That's why I didn't join with you yesterday."

Being in his situation right now, Cara was able to relate of his issues. She knows it because having mistreatment from other people cursed her life. She also understands his state and his best friends, but to think Zane would assume she was going to use him like what his friends did made her startled so.

For what Cara knew about him, Zane was the one who saved her from the menacing snakes several times, he was the one who helped her escape from the trembling tunnel, and last but not the least…he was the one who put himself first when he shielded her from the bird. And to think with all the good things he did for her…He deserves to be treated like a silly machine? Cara didn't think so. Despite all of it, Zane was the bravest ninja she has ever met, and will always be the first.

Pushed herself away from the counter, Cara stood in front of Zane. "You think I'll treat you like that? Zane…I WOULD NEVER do that to you! You may be a nindroid but that doesn't mean you deserve to be treated unequally…and." She thought, remembering the way people treated her.

_"I should know…"_

Cara looked away, blushing as she thought about how caring he was and always protective, which she found it very fond of him. Not to mention he was there for her whenever she needed help. Then, she glanced back to him and kissed him on his left cheek, where she just repaired his artificial skin. "And…that's for yesterday."

With that, Cara turned away, walking towards the door. But before she could exit, she whirled back to Zane and added, "To tell you the truth…Nindroid or not, you're still Zane. "

Next, she gave him her sincere smile and walked out the room.

Meanwhile, Zane was utterly frozen at her sweet gesture at the same time his cheeks felt as if they were heating up. He slowly placed his hand over the kissed area, and he could not help himself but sighed dazedly, his eye lids shut half open, sensing that unfamiliar feeling he once encountered before. He may not know what it was yet…but he certainly liked it.

* * *

Cara's necklace didn't reveal its guiding light for the past two days. It wasn't unusual either since it only shows after two or three days. The Bounty had been sailing in skies smoothly. The two gemstones were kept safely hidden, and there were no serpentines in plain sight. Life was too easy. During their travels, their preparation routine never stays away. Every morning, Cara wakes up extra early just so she could watch the sunrise again, and whenever Dr. Julien is around that time, she would tend to help him as well.

The ninjas' wake up call was every 9 am. The only reason why they had schedule, was because of Nya. She got tired of them for sleeping in too much, especially when there are a lot of things to do. The cleaning robot Dr. Julien invented was never used. Its parts or rather the whole creation was transformed into an engine he had been working on recently. He only wanted everyone to be safe during their travels just in case the ship's engine fails again.

Late in the morning, Zane and Kai began pulling the sails up because Nya announced they'll be landing somewhere near land. Once the sails were half way done, on the other side was Cara coiling the ropes around the mast to support the weight of the sails. Zane caught a glimpse of her until it became a full gaze. His eyes never left Cara while he helped Kai pull. Cara on the other hand, noticed Zane looking at her by the main mast. She turned her full sight of him and smiled.

She waved at him as Zane waved her back. However, holding the main rope of the sails by just one hand was not enough to pull it up. Even Kai noticed to struggle holding the rope. He looked over his shoulder, seeing Zane leaving his focus of doing the task right.

Just then, a strong gush of wind blew against the sails making Kai and Zane being pulled by the wind. It was so sudden that Kai didn't get the chance to move away when his face smacked against the mast and fell down the floor barely unconscious. Cara witnessed the whole scenario, and was startled.

The wind was so strong that Zane tried his best to hold on the rope but soon dragged uncontrollably towards Cara. In results, the sail began to descend whereas the ropes that Cara just coiled loosen as it ascends. She didn't even realize she was holding on to one. Without warning, she was pulled along heading towards Zane until the two collided at each other and both collapsed to the floor with their heads aching.

"Oww…" Zane and Cara winced, massaging their heads.

Soon, they both looked each other and then could not help but to laugh at the whole shenanigans. After their laughter dies down, Zane stood up and reached Cara his hand.

When she did, Zane took a step forward but tripped his foot over on one of the scattered ropes on the floor, causing him to fall over Cara as they both landed back to the floor as the sails slowly covered them.

Before, Cara was the one who tripped and fell on top of Zane. This time, it was Zane who was on top of her. Slowly opening their eyes, Zane and Cara's gaze locked once again. His Eyes started tracing Cara's face, her white radiant hair spread beautifully like snow, as her pale blue eyes looked back at him. Her heartbeat quickened, her cheeks began to blush, and her lips trembled. The way Zane looked at Cara was different compared to those people who thought she was a freak. It wasn't the gaze of disgust or the gaze of fear, but a gaze she felt from her beating heart. They both closing their eyes as Zane started to lean close to kiss her.

Meanwhile, regaining his conscious, kai let out a loud groan, rubbing his forehead.

Hearing this, Zane quickly got to his senses and to his feet. He pushed the sails aside then helped Cara stood up. She chuckled softly, letting herself get pulled into his arms. Little they didn't notice was they were under the sheets for too long.

"Great!" Kai snapped irately, seeing the whole sail completely unattached from the main mast. He glared at Zane, "Nice using your Zane brain! Now we have to attach this thing back up there!"

Zane rubbed the back of his neck, "Sorry Kai…I was…" He glanced back at Cara, "I wasn't paying attention to the rope…" Cara frowned. It was her fault why Zane didn't manage to hold on to the rope if she didn't wave at him. She turned to Kai, "Please don't blame him Kai…It was my fault anyway."

"I don't care whose fault it is! I'm not fixing that thing." With that, Kai walked away still massaging his sore head, frustrated. Zane could not understand him sometimes from a small issue…does he need to be angry when it is easily to be solved? But, for what Cara did, Zane felt bad for it when he knew it was really his fault.

"You know…you didn't have to do that." He said, looking at Cara. "After all, it was my fault not yours."

"It's ok." Cara replied breathlessly. Kai was right. It didn't matter whose fault it was just as long as they can put the sails back before the bounty lands.

She looked at Zane again with her positive smile in her face as if Kai's angry behavior didn't affect her. "So…" She grabbed the sail, showing it to Zane, "Are we going to start putting this back?"

Zane didn't know what just happened to her, but he smiled at her response.

Every hour and every minute, everyone seemed to do their tasks in the ship. But for Cole, Jay, and Kai, they noticed Zane was being distant from them lately. Kai suspected the ninja of ice he was hanging out with Cara more often. Whenever, they decided to play video games, they tried inviting Zane to play with them, just like old times.

Zane however, kept telling them he wasn't in the mood, even though he said that over and over again. Jay began to worry about him, worried about his new invention without Zane being his charger. The three always were depending on him…as in _always _for the smallest request that turned out to be their abuse. And not a single one of them realize that…

* * *

Night has fallen, everyone was done eating their dinner. Dr. Julien was the first one to leave because he was too eager to finish the new engine he had been working on. Jay, Cole, and Kai were bored out of their minds since they have been playing their video games over and over, along with Kai being the highest score among the rest as he kept boasting it to Jay. Jay on the other hand grew tired of Kai, though deep down he wanted to win, but does Kai needed to rub it in his face?

The land which Nya intended to go was not close yet from their coordinates. She wanted to go there so that the bounty could land somewhere near bay, and decided they'll camp in for the night. At the moment, Cara and Zane were in the kitchen, doing the dishes again. It had became their favorite past time, especially when they both have nothing to do later.

"I have a question for you." Cara asked, wiping a ceramic plate. "Were you programmed to cook very well?"

"Not really." Zane replied, soaping the sponge, "I just picked it up. Or…you could say it's my specialty." He gave another plate to Cara as she took it from his to wipe.

"That's very interesting…" She said, a playful look in her eyes, "I was hoping I could beat you in a cooking contest."

He joked, "Well…even though we both end up in a cooking completion…Still, I don't think you can't beat me."

With those remarks, Cara chuckled, "Oh really?" The sink was half full of water, and there was a devilish look danced in her eyes. She reached to the water and quickly splashed Zane.

"Hey!" Zane laughed. "You did that on purpose."

Cara giggled, her hands over her lips, and then she looked away innocently, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Zane raise and eyebrow and smirked, while Cara wasn't looking, he carefully dipped his hand into the water and then he spattered Cara with a bigger amount, making Cara's hair almost wet. The two began splashing each other with sink water, though it may look slightly bubbly but they didn't mind at all. But then, with all their actions, Cara accidentally knocked the bottle of dish washer and fell to the very same floor where she slipped, fell into Zane, and their lips touched.

Cara and Zane thought the same memory just when they notice that spot. They both looked at each other then shyly looked away, blushing at the memory. Cara could still feel Zane's warm lips over hers, same goes to Zane with her sweet lips.

"I…should get that." She crouched down reaching for the bottle. All of a sudden, she felt a painful contraction in her left arm. "Ouch!" She held her left elbow tight, where the source was. Zane heard she winced. He reached down to her level, "Are you alright?" He noticed Cara was holding her elbow in the left. He figured it was the one that caused her in pain.

"Let me see it…maybe I can help you." He insisted, reaching for her left arm. But Cara quickly stood up, afraid he might know about her arm. "No! I mean…" She glanced away as she walked few steps back to the door, "I just need some ointment for my elbow, that's all."

Startled, Zane stood up with a worried countenance, "Are you sure…you don't need help?"

Cara managed to step out the kitchen. "I'm…I'm sure Zane…but thanks anyways…" She glowered at her last statement and continued to proceed outside. To Zane, he cocked his head in puzzlement, confused of why she acted so different. Just like that time, when Cara found out her jacket hood was down, exposing her face. She had completely put it back on as if she was ashamed to show herself.

When Cara mentioned she needed ointment, what she meant was _screwdriver._ She had entirely forgotten to adjust the joints in her robotic appendages. It has been more than weeks since she didn't took responsibility of it, and now she is enduring the ache. Deep down, she felt terrible for abandoning Zane like that, especially if she knew he was only trying to help. But she could not let him know that she was…

"Ouch!" Cara winced again then mumbled, "I need a screwdriver fast!"

Then she quickly paused, remembering Dr. Julien. He was busy repairing everything and the fact he was an inventor. Cara thought it was impossible for him not to have tools lying around his workshop or his bedroom. So, she went to the hall and took a right turn, where Dr. Julien's room is held. On the other side of his door, Cara could barely hear him using a drill gun. She knocked on the door three times until she heard the drill gun stopped.

"Please come in!" Dr. Julien insisted on the other side. As Cara stepped inside his room, she saw him standing next to a table with the newly engine he created. Amazed, Cara gave it a long look of each detail. "Whoa…that's an amazing engine!"

Dr. Julien gave a nod, "Why thank you, Cara." He took off his glasses and began wiping it with his lab coat, "What can I do for you this evening?"

"I was hoping if I could borrow your screwdriver for awhile."

He wore his eye glasses back then pointed, "It's in the left drawers just below the toolbox."

Cara turned her head and saw the toolbox he was referring to. She strode there, searching for the screwdriver. But all she saw was piles of random tools and neither of them was the screwdriver she was hoping for. While searching, Dr. Julien proceeded on developing the engine's piston rod gland, including the crank shaft and Cara took each tool out from the drawers so that it will be easier for her to find the screwdriver.

A reflecting light gleamed just in front of Cara from the upper shelf. She was caught by its attention and was surprise it was picture frame of Dr. Julien with Zane beside him and the falcon perched on his arm. Cara thought it was a beautiful picture of a family, something she had wished before her aunt found her.

She didn't know that Dr. Julien was actually watching her look at his photo as he smiled. Afterwards, he held his drill gun again and began drilling some tight screws.

Minutes later, Cara found the screwdriver located on the bottom of the drawer. She happily took it and returned all the other tools back.

He cleared his throat, "What do you need to use the screwdriver for?"

Cara prickled and whirled to face Dr. Julien. She cannot say about her mechanical arm that would blow her cover. "I was planning to fix something…" She then turned to the door, ready to leave, "I just want to say thank you for letting me borrow it."

"No problem dear! Just make sure to be careful _fixing your arm…" _He answered, still drilling.

"I will— wait what?!" Just as when Cara was about to exit his room, she paused instantly, not sure if she heard that correctly. "How…How did you know…about my arm?" Cara asked, her voice trembling.

Stopped drilling, Dr. Julien placed the drill gun on the table.

He lowered his shoulders, gazing at Cara, "My dear, as an inventor…I know how to distinguish a real human body from a cybernetic arm when I see one. I noticed it when we had our handshake."

The cat was out of the bag!

_"I guess I never should've doubt an inventor…" _She thought secretly while she blushed in embarrassment. Though her blush faded quickly when she frowned, knowing she was afraid of everyone would know about her. "Please don't tell it to anyone…" She begged.

The inventor approached Cara with a worried expression. "But why? There's nothing to be ashamed of." It was easy for him to say when his son, Zane, was created with people accepted him as who he is. Not being mocked around, not being pushed by everyone else, not being treated like he was unworthy, or not being part of a tragic accident that could change his life forever. For Cara, it was the other way around.

Cara gazed down and spoke sadly. "I…I just don't want anyone to find out that I'm…"

"A cyborg?" He added. She was going to say _freak, _though it made sense since cyborgs are half robot half human. She used to have real human parts until something went terribly wrong.

Dr. Julien clung his hand over Cara's shoulder. "I understand, Cara. However…I want you to remember don't let yourself be afraid of who you are. And don't forget you are unique that's what makes you extra special!"

And with that, Dr. Julien reached out his hand to her. "Can I be the one to handle your arm? If it is alright with you of course?" Dumbfounded, Cara never thought of it that way. All her life, she called herself what usually people call her, but knowing now from Dr. Julien's beautiful advice, which referred to her _unique, _was something she felt overwhelm in a good way. It was the first time for her she heard that. A touch of warmth wrapped Cara's heart as she carefully reached her left arm to him. She had also given him the screwdriver.

While screwing, Dr. Julien continued, "We are always here for you, Cara don't also forget that." Once it was done, Cara gave it a little bend, so she can tell whether it was too tight or too loose. The result was just right for her. The inventor smiled, seeing Cara seemed to be satisfied with the outcome. Cara gazed at him when all of a sudden she spread her arms around his shoulders for a hug. "Thank you so much…" She said softly, her eyes prickling.

Dr. Julien almost fell back but caught back to his feet. He hugged her back, patting her back gently. "You're welcome." Behind Dr. Julien, Cara noticed there was another shelf. Her eyes grew wider than usual as she saw seven book of her favorite author, _Greg Farshtey. _

She gasped, "You have Greg Farshtey's books?!"

"Why yes of course." Dr. Julien answered, slowly pulling away from the hug. "I love his works!"

"Me too!" Cara beamed. "I have se—" Before Cara could finish her sentence she could not help but notice he had only seven wherein she knew Greg Farshtey had wrote eight books, which eventually she has.

He frowned, "Unfortunately…I don't have his last book." He looked up, his hand scratching his head, "Come to think of it…I don't think Zane hasn't given me the book yet I told him to buy."

Suddenly, it just dawned to Cara, bit her lips, thinking. _"Wait a minute! Is that why Zane was at the bookstore? Because he was going to get it for him? Great…" _Despite she had already feel terrible about leaving Zane behind awhile ago, now she felt worse, realizing she had bought the last stock that Zane was suppose to get his father for.

Unless…

"Wait right here, Dr. Julien." Cara left his room for awhile, leaving Zane's father confused of what she meant by that. The eighth book of Greg Farshtey that was bought by Cara, was kept under her pillow in Nya's room. Every night before she goes to sleep, she would always read it in every chapter. Right now, she's in the very last chapter. After she had retrieved the book, she wen back to Dr. Julien's room, hiding the book behind her back to make it a little surprise.

Cara grinned and showed the book to him. "Taa-daa!"

Dr. Julien's eyes widened then beam to his surprise. He immediately swiped the book from Cara's grasp, excited. "This is the book I've been waiting for!" He darted at Cara, "How did you get it?"

Just to be fair for Zane, she took a bit of play along. "Zane…told me to hold it for awhile until I give it to you..."

Although it wasn't true, Cara wanted only Zane's father to make him feel happy and to thank Zane, knowing it would mean so much for his father. But by the way he reacted he seemed absolutely blissful about it.

What made Cara give the book away? It took her long time to wait to get the book, and yet now she just simply let it go? Cara had always loved reading adventure novels of her whole life. The life she has in the newly present was far much better than reading adventure stories, when she had a real exploration of her own, being in places she never knew she could go, being with the people she met, and being to have face all kinds of challenges. Since she was in the last chapter of her book, she didn't bother to know the ending. It was obvious she had already known.

It was fun for Cara watching Dr. Julien got all excited to have the last book he wanted. He couldn't even stop looking back and forth to the engine then to the book, not sure if he wanted to read it or finish the engine.

Cara chuckled. "Not sure which one you do first?"

Dr. Julien turned at Cara and smiled, having a perfect idea, "Cara, if it's alright with you…" He handed her the book, "Can you read me the first chapter while I do this engine?"

Cara smiled and nodded, taking the book from him, "I would love to…"

* * *

Several hours later, around twelve midnight, Cara was walking through the hallway, thinking about what Dr. Julien's words of wisdom. _Don't let yourself be afraid of who you are… _Those were the exact words she remembered as it echoed in her mind. The question remained, Could she really do it? The Destiny's Bounty landed safely near the docks of another town Nya found from the map. Inside the bounty, everything was quiet, probably everyone was already asleep, and Dr. Julien was the only one awake since he got pumped up now that he has the book he wanted, thanks to Cara…or was it Zane?

Cara sighed in contentment. When she strode up the stairs, she instantly stopped, her eyes widened, seeing Zane still awake standing by the balcony. In this kind of situation, Zane would have sense she was coming. But instead, he was staring down at his reflection, his mind busily thinking.

"Zane?" She called softly.

Hearing her voice, Zane quickly turned around, startled. "Oh Cara!"

"What are you still doing here?" She asked, "I thought you were already asleep?"

First, Zane looked at her then glanced away and said, "Well… I—I was worried about you—I mean! You just ran off in a hurry…I wanted to make sure you were alright."

Was he waiting for her? That was Cara's first thought. As he said this, Cara looked down at her left arm and began running her hand along it and bit her lips, remembering what Dr. Julien's advice. She took a few steps forward to Zane, readying herself to confess. "Zane…I…" But before she could even open her mouth, her thoughts seemed to fight against her conscience.

_"Wait…what if he thinks I'm a freak…what if he doesn't talk to me anymore after he finds out. No! That's not true…Remember what Dr. Julien told me. Don't let yourself be…be…" _Cara felt a twist in her chest then sunk to her stomach. _"This is harder than I thought…" _

Zane however, was calmly waiting for her to say something. He noticed Cara held her left arm tight. This made him wonder why she was keeping it away from him. And of course…that spark he felt when their hands both touched. He figured it has something to do with it or perhaps his.

"I…" Cara sighed heavily, giving up. "I should really go to bed…"

"Oh…" Zane answered wearily, "It is late…maybe you should go to bed." Their eyes were gazing at each other, until Cara gave him a timid smile and spoke, "Good night…" Cara turned around, heading her way to Nya's room. But then, just by the first step of the stairs, she paused right there and then gazed back at Zane, who was still standing looking at her as he gave her a small smile.

Just by looking at him, she felt her heart skipped a beat, especially after she realized Zane was waiting for her the whole time when she left him in the kitchen. That took effort.

To Zane's surprise, he was stunned when he watched Cara ran to him and spread her arms around his shoulders. A great new feeling emerged from his system, a sense of where his heart felt ever so light while his knees were about to weakened.

Cara buried her face in the crook of his neck, her breath brushing against his skin. Zane slowly began wrapping his arms around her waist. He didn't know why he did it, but it only felt it was right as he buried his face against Cara's soft hair, smelling that sweet scent. Soon, they both parted, looking each other once again. Their faces almost two inches close.

"Good night…" Cara whispered. After this, she went inside the ship to Nya's room.

Alone outside the deck, Zane was speechless…again. But his artificial heart somehow wasn't. It was rather functioning in a different way, feeling a warm sensation in his chest. These new emotions had caused him different system effects in him. And it was for sure, these he so called _malfunctions_ stayed longer in his system longer more than he remembered.

At 2 am. Zane kept tossing and turning on his bed, finding it hard to sleep. Whenever he closes his eyes, his mind flashed an image that comes randomly, first her eyes, her lips, and her hair. Until, the whole parts merged together in one whole image of Cara. Zane lay flat on his back as he sighed, staring at Kai's upper bunk bed. This was unusual for him not able to sleep at this time of hour.

_"Why is she always in my mind?" _He thought in wonder. It wasn't just an image of Cara in his memory files, but the whole past memory with her during their adventure. Zane pushed his blanket aside, knowing he couldn't sleep at all as he sat up. He walked out from the bedroom, heading towards the deck to get some fresh air. Then something stopped him when he noticed a light peering through the other room. He realized it was the room of his father.

"That's strange…" He said, walking towards his father's room. He carefully pushed the further open since it was already left ajar and saw his father completely wide awake. Dr. Julien was at the verge of getting the engine finished. He was so busy focusing on the machine he didn't notice Zane was standing by the doorway looking at him.

Dr. Julien walked passed the other side of the table until he saw a white color in the corner of his eyes. He turned around, "Zane..? Shouldn't you be in bed my son?"

"Shouldn't _you _be in bed?" Zane repeated, knowing his father should not be awake at this late time because of his old age. "What are you still doing late at night?"

Dr. Julien grinned then looked back at the engine he worked hard for. He was proud he managed to complete it. "I was working on this engine and I believe this one will be ready by morning!" He took his pliers from the table, "Now…I just need to do one more thing before this could be used. What about you son? Why are you still awake?"

"I just…" Zane paused at his reply and just realized it would be the right time to tell his father regarding his unusual symptoms since they were both awake anyways.

"Father, would it be alright if you check my systems?" He looked down, scratching the back of his head, "I've been feeling strange from the past couple of weeks…"

With those words, Dr. Julien was flummoxed. He gaze back at Zane and frowned, "But son, you just had your system diagnosis early this month? What seems to be the problem?"

Zane shrugged, "That's just it. " He shook his head, "I don't know..."

His father felt worried and anxious. He sighed, walking towards his closet full of his instruments of diagnostics. "Try to sit down, Zane. I'll check your body system first." Zane followed what he requested, sitting on a three legged stool. He had also opened his main panel switch, where Dr. Julien will start scanning. There were wires here and there all connected to Zane's different parts such as his head, neck, and both his arms. But most of the main wires were attached to his chest and other internals.

A certain device was held by Dr. Julien, indicating a small screen that would able to help him identify each of Zane's different systems. Every bar graph showed average results from their corresponding parts. Dr. Julien began to wonder what Zane was trying to mention if all his diagnosis were positive.

He explained, "Zane, your system seems to be functioning normal. I don't see any problem in your body. What exactly are the symptoms you felt recently?"

Zane placed his finger under his chin, recalling those malfunctions he had experienced.

"Let's see…" He began, "Sometimes my body couldn't move as if my gears were locked, my body temperature increases, including the ones in my cheeks, and lastly my heart beats fast though I don't see any reason why since I'm calm."

The symptoms Dr. Julien heard found it interesting. "And…when do those symptoms usually happen, my son?"

It took Zane longer to think about his question until he answered, "Whenever I'm with Cara."

"Whenever you're with Ca—Wait what?!" Dr. Julien's eyes went wider than usual. He darted his eyes back and forth, processing it as he thought.

_"Body not able to move…temperature increases, especially in his cheeks, and his heart beats faster than usual…And all of these symptoms occur if he's with Cara? Perhaps his emotions are beginning to develop more and more…But most importantly…could this mean he's…he's…"_

He smiled all the way, knowing the answer he was looking for. Zane witnessed the way his father reacted and cocked his in puzzlement, "Is…everything alright?"

Dr. Julien chuckled, "Of course everything is alright…In fact, it's more than alright." He cleared his throat as he approached Zane closer, "But…let me tell you something, Zane." He sat on the edge of his bed, "When humans feel such emotions towards to another person, they sometimes tend to act or rather behave differently." He held Zane by the shoulder, "And you my son have been experiencing this new emotion towards Cara."

"But what kind of emotion am I feeling?" Zane questioned, "Is this something I should worry?"

"No not at all!" He exclaimed, "However son, I have taught you what humans are capable of, especially to feel. But this new emotion you're having right now is something you should discover on your own…and believe me…" He smiled, "There is nothing to be worried about."

Zane smiled back, at least knowing he there's no reason for him to worry. And yet, he didn't get the answer he needed. All he has to do is to find out what emotion he was feeling.

Afterwards, Dr. Julien managed to set all his materials back with the help of his son. Since everything was done and Zane's diagnostics seemed to be normal, it was time for Zane to head back to his room.

"Sleep well father and good night." He said, walking towards the door. The minute he was about to set his foot outside his father's room, Dr. Julien called out for him. "Wait Zane. I almost completely forgot."

Zane turned at his father, "What is it?"

"I wanted to say thank you for giving me the eighth book of Greg Farshtey." Dr. Julien placed his hands over his hips and then whirled to face his bookshelf, where the eight book was kept along with the rest. "Now…I have completed the set!"

Flummoxed, Zane indeed saw the eighth book in his book shelf. "But I didn't…" But how in Ninjago did his father get it when he knew he failed to get the book? Then it just dawned to him. "Cara…" He whispered.

* * *

The next morning, Jay was found sleeping in the kitchen after Zane had discovered he was sleeping walking again to make a sandwich. This time, he didn't zap himself awake.

As the usual morning routine, Cara was the first one who woke up early in the morning, just so she could watch the sunrise again, which she hoped to see from a different view.

She had also thought how funny Jay was when she found him lying beside the fridge holding a half-bitten sandwich. Cara shook her head at the sight of Jay's silliness. Ten minutes later, the sun began to rise from the far horizon. It may be too far to see, but it sufficed Cara.

In that moment, she would have expect her pendant starts to show its guiding light to lead them to the third gem's hidden location, yet there was no sign at all. She held her pendant tight as she frowned. The ninjas had two gems in their possessions, and now they only need the third one then soon they will have the fourth. The time of her journey had drawn near to an end.

What will she do after everything is done? The possible outcome Cara could think right now is when her aunt found out she's been missing for more than weeks, and probably she will be grounded for the rest of her life. But what is the point of her punishment if she was always locked in her house and never will she set her foot outside for an adventure. Worst, she won't be able to see her friends for good, especially Zane.

_Zane… _that name made her heart felt really warm. His name somehow echoed in her mind.

For some reason, her feelings towards him grew more and more each day she spends her time with him. It was also a new emotion she felt after she met him. At first, it was confusing, but time after time, she had realized she liked Zane…No…she like-likes him. Unfortunately, last night was something she regretted. She could have told him to tell him the truth if she wasn't being so scared to show what she really is.

Just then, she heard someone groaning behind her. It almost sounded like someone has woken up in the wrong side of the bed. Cara turned around and saw Jay massaging his lower back as he held his sandwich. Jay on the other hand, fully opened his eyes then looks at Cara, standing by the balcony. "Oh. Hey Cara, You're up early?"

"Good morning, Jay. You're also early too." Cara looked at the sandwich he was holding, "What kind of sandwich did you make?"

Jay cocked his head, confused. "Huh? What sandwich?" He gazed at his hands and was surprised he was indeed holding a cheese and octopus tentacle sandwich. It was then he realized he had been sleep walking last night. He quickly hid his food behind his back, chuckling lousily. "I don't know how that sandwich got in there hee…he…he—"

His expression changed, witnessing unusual. "Uuh…what's wrong with your necklace?"

Cara's eyes widened. "My necklace..?" She looked down wherein her pendant began to glow its bluish aura. All of a sudden, the light within flared out, heading it way towards north east from where they are. From the observation of Jay and Cara, it lead them somewhere that wasn't far until it landed over the other end of the island.

Jay looked back at Cara. "Does that mean…"

She sighed, unchallenged. "Yes Jay…I think I know what it means…"

* * *

"This is good." Cole said, his arms over his hips, nodding. He observed the map of the entire island on the huge monitor. "It's really not that far from here…Which means, we have to walk ourselves through the jungle until we get there."

"Walk?!" Kai protested. "Can't we just let the bounty take us there?"

"Unfortunately you can't, Kai." Dr. Julien answered. "The ship's engine will be replaced today with a new one I just finished last night."

Jay stated, "Oh c'mon Kai! A little walk wouldn't hurt a little. It's a short distant walk through the jungle. And besides, we could use a little exercise."

Zane raised an eyebrow, looking at Jay, "You mean…_you _could need the exercise after you ate most of the deli meat last night."

"Hey! I was hungry ok!" Jay exclaimed, his hands crossed over his chest.

Nya walked in to the center, "Alright everyone, me and Dr. Julien will stay here in the ship to change the engine while you guys search for that third gem. Hopefully, the bounty is done before you come back."

Jay gazed at her with admiration as he sighed, "I love it when she's in full commando…"

"You heard the samurai! Let's go." Cole commanded.

And so, Cara and the ninjas began to walk out the bridge. When it was Cara's turn to exit the hull, Dr. Julien called out, "Be careful out there Cara."

Cara heard him and whirled around, "Don't worry Dr. Julien, I'll be fine." She smiled after she said it.

Through the jungle, Cole was in the first line, cutting and slashing some thick vines along their way using his elemental sword of earth. He and the others were already half their distance towards the third gem's location. Jay knew a good walk would benefit him, because he felt like it more than using the bounty to help them get there and not to mention, he had been eating a lot for the past few days since they didn't do much recently. Right now, his thought about taking a walk was wrong.

"My feet are killing me!" Jay complained loudly. Meanwhile, Kai simply rest his hands behind his head while he walks, and surprisingly enjoying it. "You were right, Jay. This is a good idea."

Jay couldn't determined if he really means that or he was just making him feel irritated like he usually does with his video game high scores. Besides that, Jay noticed Zane and Cara were a little far behind from them. He can barely hear them talking and laughing. This made Jay started to wonder. "Is it me…or Zane is being distant from us."

Cole spoke, cutting the vines. "Come to think of it…he is, isn't he?"

"I wonder what's up with him?" Kai began, "Plus, he's been hanging out with Cara more often." He paused, "Do you think he's…" In his thought, he figured if Zane could understand the emotion of two people in love. He quickly shook the thought away, "No…it couldn't be. He's a robot!"

"A nindroid Kai! A nindroid. How many times do we need to talk about this?" Jay protested.

Cole finds it hard to know the direction where they're going at. He kept getting rid of the plants, but he wasn't sure if he's going the right path. Usually, Cara is supposed to be in the front so that Cole will know whether they're getting closer or not.

He stopped and looked behind Kai, "Hey Cara! Can you come here? I don't know if we're even going to the right direction."

Hearing this, Cara felt she went back to her senses. She was busy having conversation with Zane, she forgot about her duty as a guide. "Oops…sorry Cole!"

She looked at Zane then chuckled, "I better go…" Zane didn't mind Cara left for awhile as he watched her walked away. At least there was still a smile in his face. The pendant blinked fast few times when Cara took turns in different areas. Then, it even blinked faster, facing to the right.

"I'm guessing it's this way." She said, pointing at the right.

"Ok then." Cole stepped forward and began cutting through the vines again. Afterwards, Cole heard a twig snap followed by another. He stopped, "Did you guys hear that?"

"Hear what? The snapping twig? That's probably the twigs we stepped on." Jay replied.

Next, they heard a tree branch shook behind Cole. They craned their necks at it, but saw nothing.

"What was that?" Cara asked nervously.

And then, to their left, they heard and noticed a tree trembled its leaves. The ninjas went to their striking mode, waiting for whatever that comes out behind the tree.

"Get ready guys…" Cole announced fiercely, clutching out his sword. The tree kept shaking and shaking while the ninjas were getting more anxious until a small monkey popped out from the tree holding a mango.

The ninjas, including Cara, sighed in relief. Kai wiped his forehead, "Whew! It's just a stupid monkey."

Just right after he said that, the monkey threw its mango directly to his face, howling furiously for calling such name. Kai was knocked down dizzily, seeing mangoes spinning consciously in his head. "That's…a lot of…mangoes!"

Cara picked up the fruit and approached the angry howling monkey to return its food. She felt bad for the animal being called badly. Something she could relate with.

"Here…" She spoke, reaching the fruit to the monkey, "You want this back, don't you?"

Stopped howling, the monkey looked at Cara then to the mango then back to her. It seemed the monkey sensed goodness in her. It beamed and happily took the fruit, eating it. After that, it hopped on top of Cara's head.

Cole smiled, finding it cute, "I think he…or a she likes you." Kai had just sat up, regaining his conscious back. He shook his head then glanced up to everyone. Gladly, he still remembers his name. But in an instant, he darted at Cole with his eyes wide open. Cara witnessed Kai and did the same thing.

She gasped at the sight of Cole as the monkey gasped at well, covering its mouth. Zane and Jay were surprised of something Cole didn't feel. A giant red centipede crept on Cole's back. Its razor sharp jaws could cut part of his hair.

Cole's face contorted, "Why is everyone staring at me?"

"Cole…whatever you do don't move…" Cara warned.

"Why?! I—Is there something behind me?"

"Oh…it's nothing…" Jay searched for an object to help get rid of the ridiculously large insect off Cole. He saw a thick broken tree branch lying beside his feet as he picked it up. "Just stand still."

Soon enough, Cole felt tiny prickly legs crawling on his back to his forehead. He slowly looked up and gulped, now that he saw why his friends were staring at him. He followed Jay instruction, but it didn't last long.

"GET IT OFF ME!" He cried, trying to scrape off the bug on his head. Jay raised the branch over his head, aiming at the bug or was it Cole? When Cole saw him doing it, he waved off, knowing Jay would also hit him, "No! No! Don't!" Unfortunately, Jay managed to club Cole on the head. "OUCH!" Cole winced.

But the giant centipede evaded as it now crawled onto the branch to Jay's arms.

Startled, Jay quickly lets go of the branch before it could reach to him. However, it was too late.

It crept all over on his body. From being startled, Jay panicked. He tried brushing off the giant centipede. Every time he did, it would just transfer one place to another. At this moment, Jay began to run aimlessly around the group, waving his arms.

"GET IT OFF ME! GET IT OFF ME!"

With Jay's arm swaying, he didn't realize his hand smacked Kai's face again, making him fell down unconscious.

"Hold still Jay, I'm coming for ya!" Cole picked up the branch again and was determined to hit the insect away, but when he swung the branch it slipped in his hands then landed on Zane's foot.

"OW!" Zane yelled, holding his aching foot as he hops.

Cole's eyes widened and clenched teeth, "Sorry Zane!"

In the meantime, Cara just stood on her ground watching the boys how they intended to get rid the insect away. So far, the giant centipede got the best of them and none of ninjas succeeded. The monkey even clapped its hands, enjoying the scene. She furrowed her eyebrow, tired of them getting the situation out of hand.

"ENOUGH!" She shouted. With this, everyone paused immediately. Zane stopped his hopping. Kai…well… he was still lying down unconscious. Cole was startled by her voice, so he tripped over, his face smacked first on the muddy ground. Jay stopped running, his arms still way up high while the bug continued to crawl all over him. The monkey jumped to another tree, hiding from Cara.

As Cara released a breath, she grabbed the same old branch and then walked towards Jay. She waited for the creature to crawl on Jay's chest, so that it would be easier for her to hit.

Jay closed his eyes tight, praying he wouldn't get knocked off. When it did in a perfect timing, she swung the branch and whacked the huge insect off. It sailed away to the ground until it finally crept to vanish.

Cara then dropped the branch, placed her hands over her hips, and gave the ninjas her _it wasn't so hard to get rid of the insect _look. The ninjas gave a very lousy smile, embarrassed. Kai groaned, waking up once again from his unconsciousness. "Wh—what happened..?"

* * *

Once they have passed through the wild jungle, they found themselves in an old abandoned village. There were two or three nipa huts remained, but the rest were already disassembled and engulfed by the jungle's thick trees. The sight of it made the ninjas and Cara wondered what history was behind it.

"Do you think someone still lives here?" Jay questioned, glancing the old village.

"I don't think so, Jay." Zane observed, "I have calculated this village has been abandoned for centuries. Still, I wonder what made the people here leave…"

"It doesn't matter anymore even if we knew the answer." Kai stated, "What matters is finding that gem"

Cara walked inside on one of the nipa huts. She figured Zane was right about the whole place being abandoned, so she decided to enter, searching for the gemstone. Inside the hut, there were long forgotten items left lying on the floor.

The item that caught Cara's attention was a rag doll, placed on a pillow. She approached it and took the doll in her hands. For some reason, she felt sad about the doll being left behind or forgotten to whoever possessed it. It was like she was the doll. Not only had she felt connected to it, her mind drifted about her unknown parents as well. Parents she never actually knew and why she was left. Cara quickly shook the thought away, not getting herself dwell in her memory. She put the ragdoll back to where it was before.

Cole lifted a huge boulder above his head, looking for the gem under the spot. "No gem here."

He gazed back to his friends, "Try checking the houses."

Cara poked her head out from the window then shook her head, "No gemstone here, Cole."

Kai placed his hands over his hips, "It's gotta be here somewhere!" He darted at Cara, "Does your necklace shows any sign if we're getting close?"

She looked down at her pendant. So far, it only blinked in normal pace. "No…" After that, Cara walked out the nipa hut and sat on a grey rock covered moss, so she could rest her feet. She had also noticed the rock she was sitting on was surprisingly soft, though didn't bother to ask why. She then began massaging her right leg.

"Hey, you ok?" Jay asked, walking towards her.

Cara turned to Jay and nodded, "I'm fine…I just need to rest for awhile." She started down at her right leg and mumbled, "And maybe another adjustment…"

Just then, her pendant pulsated faster. Its brightness caught the ninjas' attention.

Jay gasped, "The gem must be under that rock!" When Cara was about to stand up, the ground trembled stronger and stronger.

"Earthquake!" Zane yelled, maintaining his balance from the shaking ground. Cara held onto the rock tight, terrified at the situation. But when Cara thought she was holding a rock, it suddenly emerged high above ground along with her. The ground began to crack as two more pods and huge stalks swirled it way up. The ninjas dodged every surfacing vine, avoiding its sharp tips.

"Help me!" Cara was now hanging onto the edge of the pod, her grip beginning to slip.

A line appeared in the center of the pod then slowly opens, revealing its wriggling spikes and its drooling greenish goo. Cara was lucky enough she was holding on the lower jaw. But when she saw the green goo spurted out of its mouth, she quickly lets go!

"Cara!" Zane shouted, seeing her falling. He ran towards her as fast as he can and then leapt over of every incoming vine. On the very last jump, Zane flipped in midair and caught Cara in his arms. He landed perfectly on his feet. Both did not say anything, but their eyes were locked at one another until it broke when they heard Jay scream.

Jay was being wrapped by the monstrous plant's vine as it smacked him back and forth against the ground. Then, he was tossed away and caught him again by the foot, dragging him for another smack down.

"I think I know why this village was abandoned!" Jay proclaimed, still being used like a human swatter. He furrowed his eye brows, "That's it! I had enough!" He pulled out his elemental sword of lightning. Its blades slid out from the hilt. "Eat lightning!" He swirled his sword in his hands then thrusts it into the vine. Flash of lightning struck around the plant, electrocuted by Jay's power. Jay was now released, but fell on a puddle of mud.

"Oh this is just great!" He said sarcastically, wiping the mud off his sleeves.

"We don't have time for this!" Kai declared, swinging his sword cutting vines, "We need to get that gem fast!"

Cole nodded in confirmation, "Right!" He glanced at Zane and Cara, "You two, find that gem while we stall this thing!"

Without hesitation, Zane and Cara began looking close behind the wild plant. It was the same area where Cara's pendant detected the gem. "If I were the gem…where would I hide?" She asked herself, darting her eyes in every possible location.

All of a sudden, another huge stalk rose from the ground and was about to hammer the spot where Cara stood. Zane was lucky he immediately saw the probability. The minute the stalk swung downwards, he pushed Cara aside before she even get hit, while he sliced half of the vine. As Cara stood up, she saw Zane fought the beastly plant with his elemental sword of ice. She also had realized once again he saved her. However, there was no time to thank him. She must find the third gemstone before things could get worst.

A light twinkled in the corner of Cara's eye. She turned at it, and it was for sure she found the third gem. That is of course…it was underneath the roots of the man-eating plant. She could tell because its light peered through the holes in the ground.

"Guys! I found the gem!" She announced loudly. The only problem was, how to get the gem out?

"What are you waiting for?! Get it!" Cole demanded, evading every vine. And so, Cara ran towards the roots and began digging while the man-eating plant was being distracted by the ninjas. Unfortunately, before she could reach for the gem, the second pod finally opened, shooting out thorns like arrows. One of them slightly scratched Cara's left arm. It didn't hurt her, but it did leave a mark.

Startled, Cara covered the scraped area of her arm. "Uh…guys! We have another one right here!" Kai heard her. "I got this one!" He said confidently. He soon left Cole by his side and went to the second pod. With the second preoccupied, Cara has the chance to grab the gem out of its roots. Yet, the third pod purposely crashed in front, barricading her.

"What now?!" Cara complained, frustrated. The third pod began to open its jaws as a toxic gas crawled out. Backing away, she covered her nose, not inhaling the poisonous gas. When Jay witnessed it, he came running towards it. With a swift motion, Jay jumped and kicked the third pod directly on the side of its jaws away from Cara. Its head collided against the trees.

"Two words—Breath Mints!" He joked. Now that the last one was being taken care of Jay, Cara has her last opportunity to take the gemstone away. She pushed her hands deep into the soil, passing through the tangled roots. But when she stumbled in a much smaller gap, her hands could not fit, making her hard to reach for the gem.

She clenched teeth, forcing her hand through the small gap. "Come on!" The time was at the essence. Cole fought against the plant's wild lashing vines, but every time he would cut more, another kept coming for him. Kai continued to block off the shooting thorns by his sword, yet he could not keep up for he was losing his energy. Jay found it hard to defeat the third pod with its toxic gas, spraying out from its mouth. Some of the plants close to it wilted, and that was something Jay doesn't want.

The gemstone was only three inches away from Cara reaching it. She kept pushing her arm closer and closer, feeling that heat from the gem under her fingertips. And not a moment too soon, she felt her hand touched the gem.

Cara beamed. "I got it!" When she was about to pull her hand back in, she could not. Her hand was stuck and the gemstone was too big to fit through. She frowned, "Oh boy…"

With her hand holding her right wrist, adding more force to pull her hand back. She still finds it hard to do so, until another hand just came in then held her right wrist, applying more force than ever. Cara knew it was Zane's, and with one tug, they managed to pull the gem out successfully.

Both were thrown back to the ground with Cara holding the third gem in her grasp and Zane lying next to her. Kai, Jay, and Cole saw everything, grinning all the way for the achievement.

Since it has been done, it was time for them to finish off and Zane had a brilliant idea. After he helped Cara, they went back to join the group.

"Cara, what do you know about this plant?" Zane asked smartly. He had only asked that, because he knew Cara would know a little information about it.

She placed her finger under her chin, pondering about his question, "Well…besides it tries to _kill us plant_…it's a type of plant that likes to stay in tropical conditions. They don't usually…"

Cara's eyes went wide then look back at Zane, getting the idea. "I see what you're heading."

Kai tilted his head in puzzlement as he scratched his head, "Wait…I don't get it?"

Zane pulled his elemental sword of ice out, "Plants like this…don't like being in the cold!"

In that last word, Zane threw his sword like a boomerang, something he learned from his shurikens of ice. Its blade now speared into the soil near the plant's body. Jay smacked his forehead, thinking of Zane how clumsy he missed such a big target. "Are you even a ninja, Zane? How could you even possibly missed it?!"

Zane raised an eyebrow at Jay, "Who says anything about hitting it?" Zane's sword suddenly let out ice, racing its way up and around the plant's body. From the very roots then up to the last vines, everything was turned into solid ice as the plant squealed terribly from the temperature.

Over all, it became an ice statue. Once it was done, the sight was amazing. The vines were all beautifully spiraled in different direction while the three heads almost formed _fleur De lis._

Cole patted Zane's back, "Nice job Zane! Piece of artwork too!" He turned at Cara, "Do you have the gem?"

Cara didn't reply. Instead she pulled out the third gem from her pocket and showed it to everyone.

Jay fist pumped, "Yes! That means we need one more!"

Kai felt good about them selves, for doing such quite achievement they had been through.

He chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck, "You know what…I have a good feeling we might actually beat those snakes before they could get the last one."

"I wouldn't be sssso ssssure about that…" A hissing voice was heard in the midst of the jungle.

All of them were alarmed by the voice as they quickly whirled around, shocked when they witnessed a huge group of Fangpyre soldiers and Constrictais. The one who spoke was general Fangtom, holding his snake staff. Skalidor just slithered out behind the frozen plant. He looked of its detail then gave three taps, "Nice artwork."

To think Kai was positively right about them selves… "I think I spoke too soon…" He said.

The right-headed Fangtom spoke, "Thank you for making this sssso easy."

Cole took a step forward, pointing his sword at him, "And who says we're going to make this easy? The third gem belongs to us. If you want it…you'll have to get it from us!"

General Fangtom did not respond back. The two headed snakes exchange glances at each other with their evil smirk in their faces. Zane sensed there hiding something behind those mischievous grin, but didn't know what it was. For now, the ninjas knew they were only after for the gem.

While Cole was rambling, Cara was hiding behind the ninjas, concealing her from the serpentines' sight. Kai leaned back for a whisper, "Cara…head back to the bounty. Tell Nya to get here as fast as she can."

"But what about you guys? Those snakes out numbered you." She replied worriedly.

"Hey, we're ninjas. We can take care these bozos ourselves." Jay implied confidently.

Zane looked back at Cara and clung his hand over her shoulder, "Make sure the snakes don't see you when you leave…and be safe."

Cara showed determination in her eyes and nodded, "I will."

Afterwards, the three ninjas went back to face their reptilian enemies while Cara sneaked away without the snakes seeing her. Still, Zane looked back, watching her leave. He just could not shake the feeling something was going to be wrong…

All of Fangtom's and Skalidor's soldiers brought out their fierce weapons, getting ready for another battle against the ninjas. They glared at them with fury in their eyes. Cole, Jay, Kai, and Zane held their sword to fight. They yelled in unison as they spinjitzu to battle.

"NINJAAAGOOOO!"

Running back through the jungle, Cara was already half her way to the bounty. She began to hear noises getting louder and louder by the minute she gets close. Noises that sounded like two swords clashing together. The worst part was, the sound almost came from the Bounty. Just the thought about it made her think the bounty could be under attack. Nya and Dr. Julien might be in great peril.

By the time she escaped the jungle to the shore, her perception of the Destiny's Bounty being under attack was correct. At the sight of it, Cara gasped when she saw ten or more serpentines were in the ship, fighting against Nya, who wore her samurai x outfit and holding pair of daggers. There were also one rattle copter hovering above the ship. Everything was chaotic in the scene.

Nya fought bravely against the Hypnobrai tribe, protecting the other two gemstones with her life. So far, none of the snakes have found the secret hiding place of the gems.

Cara once again ran towards Nya. While Nya wasn't looking, a Venomari member was behind her with his spear blade over his head, readying himself to defeat her.

With Cara's quick mind, she glanced around looking for a possible way to stop the snake before he hurts Nya. An opportunity struck to her when she saw a tree with its long think branch near the starboard. She grabbed the tree branch by the tip then stretched it backwards, enough to create a strong force. Without hesitation, she immediately released the branch and whacked the snake in the snout as it sailed away overboard.

Nya heard a splash and then turned around wherein she saw Cara running to her..

"Cara!" She called loudly. Cara stopped in front of her, panting from the running she had been through.

"Nya…" She began, her breath becoming normal, "Kai and the others have been attacked! You need to go there and help them."

Nya glowered, "But the bounty is not ready yet! The engine was slightly damaged…" Another serpentine came behind Nya again, but this time, she elbowed him then threw her fist back against his face, knocking him unconscious.

"Thanks to these guys…" She added curtly.

Inside the rattle copter, Skales was grinning menacingly all the way, now that he saw Cara full sight as his main target. He looked back at the pilot, "Ready the grappling hook!"

For the meantime, the ninjas continued to fight against Fangtom's clan. There were still numbers of serpentines coming more and more, which made them harder to fight.

Kai jabbed his enemy upper-cut then looked at Jay, "Why are they taking so long!?"

"Give her some time Kai." Jay turned around and did a full round house kick at Bytar, "Maybe the engine is not been replace yet."

Zane spinjitzu against five Constrictais. He hurdled at them to a forceful hit. The five Constrictais were knocked away against the trees. He glanced around to his surroundings, watching his brothers and the enemies fought against each other. While he did, he was deciphering everything he sensed behind all Fangtom's mysterious plot. Zane could tell the ambush attack was more from it…

At this point, Zane heard Cole yelling at him, "Zane look out!" When he turned around to his right, one of Skalidor's associates come soaring to him with his dagger almost close of piercing his neck. But before the blade could even touch his throat, Zane ducked swiftly to the side, letting the snake fly aimlessly until he landed into a deep mud.

Cole went to Zane with his countenance seemed confused about his lack of focus. "Zane…What the heck?! Try to stay focus here. That snake almost killed you!"

"My apologies …I just couldn't stop thinking something isn't right here." He replied.

Cole cocked his head in puzzlement, "What do you mean?"

"What I meant was. There is something more behind this attack. I feel like they're merely distraction."

"Distraction of what?" Jay walked in beside Zane, "And how come you're being so distant from us lately?"

Zane raised his eyebrow, who seemed to be unrelated to his topic, "We don't have time to discuss that, Jay. We have—"

"Yeah Zane! How come you don't hang with us often anymore?" Kai agreed in concern, walking towards Cole, "What is wrong with you these times?"

In this situation, Zane didn't know what to say to do or what he should feel, not with his brothers staring at him, waiting for his answer. But since his brothers bothered to ask him, even though they are in the middle of drastic situation, he has no choice but to tell.

He took a deep breath and said, "The reason why I'm being distant from you guys…is because you've been treating me differently for the past few weeks as if I'm a vending machine."

"Vending machine?!" Jay said, confused. "What are you talking about? We were only trying to borrow you—"

"Exactly!" Zane snapped, "I may be a machine, but you've used me more of it than a brother."

He looked away, "I thought you were my brothers…But I thought wrong."

The three was utterly shock. It was the first time for them they have seen Zane snap like that.

Despite of his effort, they were still in denial they would do such things to him. Although, each of them recalled those acts they did to Zane, and surprisingly none of them realized their wrong doings.

Cole responded, "Why didn't you tell us your problems before? We could have at least…"

"What?! Is this some sort of open forum now?" Jay suddenly spoke, "If it is, I want to say something to Kai!"

Kai's eyes went wide then shrugged, "What? You have problems with me now?"

Jay crossed his arms over his chest, "Yes I do! You've been bragging about yourself how good you are in every game—leaving like I'm just a worm to you!"

He forcefully poked Kai by the shoulder, "You think you're good at everything, but you're not!"

Furrowed his eyebrows, Kai pushed Jay's hand away, "It's not my fault you're a wimp!"

Anger began to engulf Kai and Jay, glaring at one another. Cole knew things would not be so well if he didn't do something about it, especially when Kai's temper issue.

He quickly stepped between them, his hands pulling Jay and Kai apart. "Alright break it up you two! We don't have time to argue like this!"

"Get out of my way Cole!" Kai yelled, trying to Shove Cole away.

Jay said through clenched teeth, "Or what you'll brag about this too?! You know…you don't have rubbed it in hot head!"

With more rage filling the two ninjas, Cole did his best to separate his two brothers away at each other. "Enough you two!" He warned. But no matter how hard he kept telling them, Kai and Jay would end up fist to fist.

Cole glanced back at Zane, who seemed shock at the outcome. "Thanks a lot Zane! Now these two has become our problem!"

He jeered, "How is this my fault!? The three of you asked me my problem and yet you still insisting to blame for?"

From a simple _get to know why_ conversation, it became an argument they pushed in too far.

It wasn't a good sound to hear from each other, but it was indeed pleasing Fangtom and Skalidor.

Right-headed Fangtom smirked, "It ssseems the ninjas are making this easy for ussss after all…"

"Do you think Skales will have the girl this time while we distract these ninjasss?" Skalidor asked.

Left headed Fangtom shook his head, "I don't think we don't need to distract them…they are already doing it their sssselves!" Then, he signaled his troops to move out.

Cole, Zane, Jay, and Kai were still fighting at each other, without realizing or not a single of them notice the serpentines were gone! That is of course, their fight broke when Zane sensed stiff silence around them.

"Wait!" He said, darting at every sight, "The snakes are gone!"

"What the—?! How…How did they just disappear like that?" Kai stammered.

All of a sudden, they heard a girl scream far from the distance. And Jay and Kai knew that familiar scream very well.

"NYA!" They cried in unison. By this, all four of them ran back to the bounty.

Back at the Bounty, Nya was tied up in a rope, captured by General Acidicus. The other snakes came crashing inside the ship, searching for the gems. They've toppled every furniture, pulled every drawer, opened every cabinet, looked under beds, and even searched in the refrigerator-if they were even looking for the gem. But none of them so far did not find the gemstones.

"You'll never find those gems! Even if you dismantle this ship." Nya scolded, twisting to get out of the ropes.

Meanwhile, Dr. Julien was safe in the bridge. He had just finished calibrating the whole system along with the engine he installed for the ship. "That should do fine." He confirmed.

After that, he went to the helm to pull the lever right next to it. "Here goes…" In one thrust. A sound of sweet successful sound of an engine came roaring from the ship's rocket boosters as it ignites flames out of it. Nya saw its ignition, and she was ever so happy to see the bounty working again.

"The ship is working!" She beamed.

"It worked!" Dr. Julien exclaimed happily. He ran outside the bridge to tell Nya about it. And hoping his son and his friends would be there by the deck. But when he got out, the first person he saw was Cara surrounded by four Hypnobrais and a rattle copter with its grappling hook aiming at her.

From above, Skales could barely taste his own success of his plan. "Grab the girl now!" He commanded desperately. The grappling hook was shot away. Dr. Julien could only see Cara being grabbed by it and dragged away from the ship. "Oh no!"

Cara was oblivious of her incoming abduction, until she saw Dr. Julien running towards her. At first she was confused why he looked desperate to reach for her, but in those big glasses he wore, she noticed a reflection of an object coming behind her. Before she could even turned around, Zane's father managed to push Cara aside, missed from Skales' grasp.

However, in its place, Dr. Julien was clutched by the device. Cara darted at him then quickly got back to her feet. "Dr. Julien!" She cried, reaching her hands to him. Just when she grabbed him by the wrists, the grappling hook began to pull in.

Skales whacked his staff on his pilot's head, "You fool! You grabbed the wrong person!"

"Ouch! Should I release that one and try again?"

Before Skales could scold him again, he heard a voice so familiar to his ears.

"Nya!" Kai's voice called for her.

"It'ssss the ninjasssss!" Skales announced furiously. So much for his plan being success, now he has no time to undo his comrade's mistake. "Take the nerd. We'll just think of hisss purpose later for our next plan!"

Cara held tight on his wrist, pulling him back with all her might. Once the rope of the grappling hook became to reel stronger, Cara's hands began to lose grip, especially on her left part.

"No…please don't let go!" She tightened her grip as hard as she can, but when the rattle copter flew back, she lost her grip of Dr. Julien and watched him drag away.

"Noooo!" She bellowed, stretching her hands as if she could reach for him. Now, the serpentines have him.

As the ninjas reached the harbor, they saw the Destiny's Bounty being under attack. When Acidicus saw the ninjas were coming, he commanded all the other serpentines to fall back. The ones inside even stole some food from the refrigerator while they escape further.

"Hey! They're stealing our food too!" Jay whined. Kai was the first one to climb to the ship. He was shock, seeing his sister all tied up around the mast. "Nya!"

Nya smiled seeing her brother and the three at her presence. "I'm so glad you guys are here."

Kai cuts the rope using his sword. Once Nya was released, Jay rushed in to hug her and then slightly parted, looking at her, "Are you ok, Nya?"

She nodded, "I'm ok. Don't worry about it." Then, she gasped in her sudden realization, "The gem!" So, she ran to her room, where the two gems were secretly well hidden. Minutes later, Nya came back holding a small wooden chest. She opened it, letting anyone to see the two gems were still inside.

Cole let out a breath, "I'm relieved…For a minute there I thought the snakes will have them for good. A floor creaked. All of them turned at the source and saw Cara just walked in to join with them, though her face seemed to show sorrow. Zane went to her and held her hand, "Cara, I'm so glad you're safe…"

But Cara slipped her hand away from his grasp. She did that because it only reminded of her failure to save his father. This made Zane wondered why she did so. All he could see from her was her lips curved into a frown and her eyes almost showing tears.

"What's wrong Cara?" He asked in concern.

Cara sighed deeply then looked at him, "Zane, they took your father away…"

* * *

**Chapter Nine: Odds and Ends (Part 2)**

It was a great loss for the ninjas. The moment they had grasp winning against the snakes, the enemy has taken an important member away. Taking Dr. Julien was perhaps…a bonus for the serpentines. The ninjas had hoped nothing bad will happen to him as they gather plans to save him.

Nya transferred to a different island. An island somewhere far, that no serpentines were unfamiliar with.

"I don't understand how the snakes manage to find us on that island..?" Cole asked, confused. "We're the only who knows the locations and yet they somehow kept tailing us." He clenched his fist, "Those snake breaths are in for some beat down when I see them!"

Jay sighed worriedly, "I wonder what they're going to with Zane's dad?"

"What ever they're going to with him, we better get to him before it happens." Kai declared.

Nya shook her head in sympathy, "Poor Zane…I wonder how he's holding up."

By that name, Jay started to wonder as he glanced around the bridge, looking for him.

He rubbed the back of his neck, "Come to think of it…Where is Zane?"

That was a good question. Not only did Jay notice Zane was not with them, but Nya discovered Cara wasn't with them either. "And where's Cara too?" She asked.

And then, they heard a loud grumbling sound out of no where. Alarmed, Cole, Nya, and Kai went to their striking mode. "What was that?!" Cole snapped.

Jay slowly raised his right hand then chuckled, "Uhm...actually that was my stomach…I'm kind'a hungry."

"Oh." Nya said, "That's nice to know…since all of our foods have been stolen!"

Kai groaned, "Stop saying food! I'm getting hungry here too…"

Jay raised his scarred eye brow, eyeing at Kai, "Really? You bragged about your high scores-now you're bragging about how hungry you are..?"

Kai glared as he took a step forward, "You better watch your mouth Jay!"

Cole immediately blocked Kai before he could reach Jay for a fight then elbowed him.

"Stop it you two!" He warned.

Nya was shocked at the sight of her two dearest companions. "Whoa! What's going on between you two?"

Jay and Kai looked away each other, "Nothing…"

Meanwhile, Cara could hear her friends fighting over uncertain matters. She didn't know they were arguing of but their loud voices made her hair on her skin stand out, feeling pressured in an uneasy way.

She was outside the deck by the balcony, staring down at the water where Zane dove in. And yes, Zane was meditating underwater, since he needed it after the whole misfortunate event with his brothers and worst…his father taken from him. He thought meditating would help him ease his mind…could it?

There was sadness written in her face. She felt really upset, blaming herself for what happened to Dr. Julien.

Her left grip wasn't in good condition compared from her right. But she figured that's what happens for having disabilities and she hated herself for that. Although, deep down she wanted to talk to Zane, just to lighten him up a little.

She wasn't sure why she thought of it, but one reason for sure she didn't like him to be sad.

And the only way she could reach for him, was to dive in.

Cara took a deep breath and spoke, "Well…here goes." She stood upon the ledge of the balcony. She dove into the calm water. In the deep sea, it was dark since it was evening. But with the help of the moon, its light passed through the water, giving enough light for Cara to see.

Not a minute long and with no challenge, Cara managed to find Zane meditating on the seabed with a sad countenance in his face. Cara swam at the bottom of the seabed reaching for him.

On the other hand, Zane felt a tap on his left shoulder.

He turned his neck and saw Cara sitting right next to him, showing her gentle smile. Zane was Surprise, yet he was more upset of everything that has happened. He looked away from her, just facing the sandy seafloor.

Cara was hurt to see him that way. Worst, she thought Zane perhaps…possibly blamed her for her father's abduction, which was exactly what she felt. She would also hope to talk to him once both of them reach the surface, but it seemed it wasn't in his intentions to go up yet.

There was a moment of silence. Everything was at the sound of calm sea. Cara could almost feel her lungs were losing air, she gave on last look at Zane before she leaves, then she began to swim up to the surface. It was a fact Zane needed more time alone than she thought.

When Cara left, Zane could not help but to look back up to the surface, where she had reached…

Walking towards the shore, Cara sighed deeply through her nose, feeling more upset of herself than ever. _"What was I thinking..?" _She thought_, "Of course he would not talk to me…It's my fau—" _

"Cara."

Before Cara could finish her thought, she heard Zane calling her name, which happened he swam up as well to follow her and had just reached the shore. She quickly whirled, "Zane! I—I thought you…"

"You wanted to talk to me..?" He said calmly, walking towards her. "Is that why you came to see me?"

Her frown remained and looked away, rubbing her left arm, "Yes…"

Zane stopped in front of her, "What is it that you wanted to talk about?" He asked.

Cara went back to face him, her mouth agape ready to speak when all of a sudden, Zane heard couple of trees shook behind him from the distance. And just in time too, his falcon came flying ahead of them. It screeched, telling his master to follow. Cara didn't know what it was, but for she was getting terrified.

"What is it?" She whispered.

He shrugged and shook his head, "I don't know…" He looked up at falcon, "But my falcon wants us to follow him."

And with this, Zane began to follow his falcon while Cara just stood, watching him run off. She figured at the situation that happened before, leaving the bounty was probably a bad idea, not when the three gemstones needed to be guarded.

"Zane!" Cara called out.

Zane stopped and looked back at Cara.

She continued, "Don't you think we should stay close at the bounty, just in case those snakes come back?"

"I don't think the serpentines will know about this island's location." He answered then glanced back at the bounty, where his so-called 'brothers' are, "And besides…I could use some _air_."

The way Zane looked made Cara follow his sight back to the bounty. She had a feeling those fights she had been hearing recently has something to do with him and his friends. When she gaze back to Zane, he was running again- already far ahead.

She sighed, "Well…so much for talking to you." After this, she ran off as well to follow him, "Hey Zane wait up!"

Several consecutive minutes later, they found themselves to the other coast of the island, within the lush part of the jungle as they quietly pass through. Stealth was after all required from Zane. Falcon was still flying forth to the unknown destination.

"Your falcon seems to know where he's going. I wonder where he's leading us to…" Cara observed.

"He always knows where he's going. "Zane responded, "Every time we're in drastic situation, he leads us to our new hope of accomplishing things."

Zane's falcon screeched, indicating they are getting close to their destination. But then, Zane and Cara heard some plants trembled nearby followed by another. "Do you think it's those serpentines?" Cara questioned, clutching her necklace.

"We're about to find out…" Zane puts his hood on. And just with a struck of opportunity, there was another sound they heard, but this time it sounded like someone has been running over sticks and twigs, not very far from where they stood. "Follow me." He ordered.

Pursuing the unknown, Zane and Cara followed the sound through the dark jungle with Falcon flying by their side. As they were running, the unidentified was moving faster and getting further away, even quicker than the white ninja. Cara finds it hard to see through the dark, and she learned being a ninja like Zane should know how to move in the shadows. Not a minute or long, the sound of snapping twigs or rather the sound of someone running has stopped, but silence around. Zane and Cara stopped, wondering where it went.

"Where did it go?" Zane asked, searching around. When Cara looked on her side, there was something that caught her attention beyond at the end of the tropical rainforest.

"There's a light!" She declared. Zane turned around then looked at the light she had mentioned. "You right." He confirmed. "I wonder what's—!"

**"WELCOME STRANGERS!"** A boy with brown wavy hair suddenly popped out behind the bushy ferns. Zane and Cara were thrown back to the ground at the surprise.

The boy walked closer to them and tilted his head, "Are you people lost?"

The two were just utterly frozen. They both looked at each then gaze back at the boy.

"Not…anymore…"Cara fumbled. The boy stretched out his hand for her, helping Cara to stand up. Zane stood up, dusting off the dirt off his clothes. He glanced back at the boy, "Excuse me, but…where did you come from?"

The little boy pointed at the light, "I live in my village right over there."

"I didn't know there's another village in this island." Cara said.

"Every island you see has villages." The boy replied then whispered, "Except the island by the west coast. There was once a peaceful village there, until a strange living plant came terrorizing the whole place. The folks who lived there left and went to a different island."

_"I think we already knew that…"_ Zane thought.

"Come…we will go to my village. Right now, we're celebrating our festival." The young boy grabbed Cara by the hand, taking her to his hometown. Zane followed the two while Falcon just watched his master and Cara walked away. Was that the destination he was leading them to?

"Are you sure strangers like us are allowed in your village?" Cara asked, unsure from the whole invitation.

The boy nodded, "Yes. Tourist came by here every year."

Cara paused her steps, "Tourists?" She glanced back to Zane, giving him a _would-be eye brow, "_So…do you think this island is so _unfamiliar_ to everyone?"

Zane gulped, rubbing the back of his neck, "I guess…it's not unfamiliar as we thought it would be."

Moments later, the three had arrived to the village. Zane and Cara were astounded at the sight of the whole place. Everything was all lit up with colorful lanterns hanging by the banners. All sorts of decorated booths were aligned according from their different treats. Some would offer food, and some would offer fun and games. There were other booths that sell beautiful ornaments for the women. Music was all over the village. Children were chasing and laughing around. Street performers danced to entertain. But most of all…there were crowded people in the open space. "It's so beautiful…" Cara mumbled.

Since Zane and Cara came from the dark jungle, the boy can finally see his two new friends' appearance. Once he turned to look, he was sudden when he saw Cara.

"You look very funny…" He spoke. When Cara heard him, she fell back to her senses, and had just realized she was surrounded with people…lots of people. Her anxiety rose as her horrible trauma slowly engulfs her. Before people could even catch a glimpse of her, she immediately wore her jacket hood to cover her face.

Zane saw everything she did. That same trick when he met her back at the book store.

He knew whenever Cara does that, something was deeply bothering her. He placed his hand over her shoulder, "Cara, are you really alright..?"

Startled, Cara jumped away then turns around to face him. She was breathing heavily, yet soon she calm down. "Zane…I—I'm ok. I'm just…" Her eyes followed the people walking by her, "I'm just not used with many people…"

Zane took her by the hand and gave her a smile, "Come. Let's just see this festival and maybe it would help us both." Blushing, Cara's heart once again skipped a beat and that familiar warmth around her heart draws in. She smiled back and held Zane's hand tight, "Sure."

The night of the festival was indeed they enjoyed, though it was a bad idea to leave the bounty's side and not to mention it was unexpected. Still, Zane was right when he said it help them both, which it did. First, they went to a couple of booths and tried some _Takoyaki_. It was the first time she had tasted food from the island's delicacy. She had tried two or three samples, but only because she loved it. Zane enjoyed the taste of it. However, he had already cooked those kinds of food. Of course, he still appreciated it and the person who made it.

The next booth they went, made Cara feel so giddy and excited. As a matter of fact, the whole celebration made her that way since it was the first time for her to be in a festival. Heck, it was the only festival she experienced. The booth they visited was variety of hair ornaments. Mostly, it was rare flowers found in the deepest part of the jungle.

There were so many kinds that Cara found it hard to choose. Zane on the other hand, looked over the ornaments. All of them were presented such details, yet there was one accessory caught his attention. It was a blue flower, not as big or fancy like the rest. Simplicity was more to it, but somehow he knew it suits her best.

He carefully picked it up and gave it to her. "Here…try this one." He said. Cara was surprised at his gesture, flattered even. So, She quickly puts her hood down while the people around her wasn't looking, took the accessory from his hand, and then clipped it in her long curled white locks.

The lights from the lanterns gave her that radiant glow on her hair, her skin, and her eyes.

The whole image made Zane stare at her, mesmerized by her glowing beauty. His mechanical heart beats faster and faster…until that chance stopped when Cara noticed some people turning their eyes at her as she placed her hood back on. Zane frowned, curious why she did so.

_"I do not understand…why do I feel this way when I'm around her...And why would she hide her face?" _He asked in thought.

Just then, his question was left when Cara held him in her hand, dragging him to another booth she found intriguing. And it was for sure, all they did was going through different booths with kinds of activities they tried.

Cara even won a fighting fish, thanks to Zane helping her to hit the targets, using empty coconut shells. Although, it wasn't Cara's intention to keep the fish, she felt bad for the creature to be trapped in a plastic bag like that. Even for Zane, he agreed to set it free. It was a good thing there was a nearby cove. Together, Zane untied the plastic bag, gave it to Cara, and she lets the water along with the fish pour out to the sea.

They watched it swim free. And to think their evening would just rest by the sandy shore under the moon light, music was heard by the small plaza with people clapping their hands aloud, cheering at someone or group. Cara could not help but to look curiously, wondering what the people were cheering for. She glanced back to Zane.

"Can we go and have a look, please?" She pleased.

Zane smiled then shrugged, "Sure. The night is still young…might as well go before we head back to the bounty."

Cara beamed, "Last one is a rotten egg!" She giggled as she left running off as fast as she could to the plaza, hoping she would beat Zane in a small race if he follows. Zane just stood by the shore, watching her running. He smirked, finding her cute to play a little game of race.

"Hey wait up!" He exclaimed, chasing her to the plaza. If there was one part he loved in the festival…was seeing Cara so happy, even under her hood, he could tell she was.

Once Cara reached the villager's plaza, there were people gathered around the center while the band happily played music. The folks were watching their friends, children, and relatives danced to the song. Cara pushed carefully through the cheerful crowd, wanting to see the show. Zane managed to find her in the crowd, passing through the crowd as well.

"Cara!" He called out.

She turned, waving her arm, "I'm right here, Zane!"

When Zane reached beside her, he was surprised to see the people dancing in the center. The one that caught them interesting was a little girl wearing a red dress, twirling gracefully to the song and was the best dancer among the rest. When Cara thought just watching the girl dance, the little girl herself saw her and then approached her, holding her hand. Cara was surprise, yet stunned by the girl's invitation for a dance.

Zane leaned Cara to whisper, "It looks like your little friend here want to dance with you."

The little girl began to tug Cara's hands. Cara didn't know what to do. She had never danced with someone before and she was only used to dance alone whenever she plays her music in her room.

Dancing in public was probably a new challenge for her. Unexpected, the little girl gently dragged her to the center of the dance floor, where many people are watching her and waiting for her to dance. The anxiety…the pressure, she could feel it all. She wanted to walk away and leave the plaza, but at the same time, she didn't want to make the little girl disappointed.

Then, the little miss tugged Cara's sleeves, catching her attention. Cara gazed down at the girl, and with the band playing their music, the child began to dance gracefully right in front of her.

She spun, she swayed, and she skipped in bliss according to the rhythm. It was a dance not to fancy or sophisticated, instead it was a dance of expression. Cara found it really fascinating as she watched the girl moved her body with the music. Soon enough, she felt her foot tapping on the ground, music running through her body. Every step and every beat, Cara started to dance with the girl, following her movement. At first, she began slowly then soon she managed to catch up with her.

Now, the two were laughing and giggling, dancing all the way together as the crowd applauded at them. Before it was the little girl who was the center of attraction, after that Cara came next.

As Zane watched Cara dance, he was impressed by her gracious moves. He never thought she could dance very well. Perhaps a talent she had before. It was too bad he could not see her face or beauty he admired. More people came waltzing in to the dance floor until the two stars were surrounded.

The moment Cara have right now, was something indescribable in a good way. Deep down, she never felt so happy in her entire life…so alive without the walls, windows, or doors blocking her life from enjoying. No ugly coned-hair aunt will even stop her to ruin the night. And with Zane by her side, she couldn't stop the thought of him in her heart. The band kept playing, the folks happily danced around, and the night was so perfect.

A man with his wife was dancing close to Cara. However, Cara didn't notice the man. She was having too much fun dancing she wasn't even bothered with the people around her anymore when all of a sudden the man elbowed Cara by the shoulder as her jacket hood fell down, exposing her face completely.

The little girl and the town people stopped dancing, staring at her with utter shock in their faces. The band stopped playing their instuments. All their eyes were on Cara. It was the worst silence she heard. Glancing at the people, Zane was shock at the event he witnessed. He listened to what the people were saying, and he could not believe he was hearing. He returned his sight to Cara with a worried countenance. _Why would people say such things to her? _That was the question he wanted to ask.

Those eyes…the way people looked at her was a mirror of her horrible memory. Her nightmare came true once again. Minutes later, she heard voices and whispers she never thought she could hear it for a second time.

_"What kind of person is she?! Such an odd thing!"_

_"Mommy! Mommy! Why is she so different?"_

_"She's cursed! A cursed woman in our island!"_

_"It is bad luck to have her here!"_

_"She looks horrible!"_

The words stung her like sharp needles, prickling into her skin deeply until that pain reaches to her heart. Cara covered her ears, not letting any words to enter. But with so many people around her, she could no longer bear it at all. From the looks of it, this was the moment Zane thought to pull her away from the crowd, but before he could do it, Cara ran away from the plaza, pushing herself out through the whispering crowd.

"Cara!" Zane yelled, chasing after her. Out from the village, Zane was back to the dark jungle, searching for her. "Cara! Where are you?!" All he could hear was the sound of the animals crying from the disturbance, but none he heard from her. He kept strolling further into the jungle, looking and looking…until he heard someone sniffled, almost sounding like crying.

The source came from Zane's right direction. He turned to the right, where he had also seen the open shore. He walked right out of the jungle, and by that shore, there was a dock. Cara was sitting at the end of it, her face covered with her jacket hood and a couple of sniffles were heard. Zane slowly approached her, hoping she would be alright.

Even he hasn't say anything yet to her, Cara sensed he was there behind.

She didn't look at him or her reflection below her. She sniffled, "Please, Zane…leave me alone…"

Zane stopped beside her then sat, "Nobody wants to be alone, Cara."

"But I do…" She choked.

There was a moment of silence. Even though she wasn't looking at him, Zane did.

"Cara please…look at me." He gently placed his hand over her cheek and then slowly he turned her to face him. When Cara faced him, she puts her hood away as tears began to trace down her cheeks. The way she looked right now, especially with the moonlight sparkled her tears and her pale blue eyes, it made Zane overwhelmed by her captivating beauty…a beauty that Cara never knew she had.

"Cara..." He began, "You know I will always help you…but I wanted to ask what happened back there." He gently shook his head, "Not that I am forcing you. It's ok if you don't want to tell me. But I do hope you would…"

Cara longed hiding her reasons of sadness. But maybe this time…this evening things would change since he had asked. She took a deep breath then exhaled, which she found it challenging for the first time, only because she had never shared it with anyone.

"People used to make fun of me all the time when I was a little girl. They treat like as if I'm not one of them…sometimes they would push me around whenever they see me. And…because of them I started asking myself…Why am I so different? Why do I have to be born with white hair and blue eyes? Why can't I be like anyone else?" She paused in her sentence while a lump grew in her throat, "People like them hurt me. They hurt me and hurt me until one day they did something to me. After that I was never the same." More tears came falling from her eyes.

"What do you mean _'you were never the same'_?" Zane asked, puzzled.

This was it. She began to pull her left sleeve up as Zane waited of what she was going to show. What came after that, made his eyes widened with utter shock.

He stammered, "You're…You're arm! It's—it's…a machine?!" He shook his head, "You're a robot too?"

She stared down at her reflection below the dock, "Actually, _parts_ of me…yes. Or you could say I'm part cyborg."

Then, she closed her eyes as one teardrop fell to the water, creating a gentle ruffle. "After I left the hospital… I never came out of my house ever since…hiding myself from people who hurt me…people who see me different."

Zane frowned, "But if that's true…how come I saw you—"

"I ran away!" Cara cried, "Temporary that is…" She sobbed, "I guess there is part of me still misses Ninjago…"

Everything she shared, her reasons, her sorrow, and her shame…Zane didn't know what to say to her but to feel terrible, involving a slight sense of remorse because of what she had been through. However, while Cara was telling her story, Zane had detected something he completely disagreed about her.

"I 'am sorry what you had been through. I never knew you had horrible experience before." He spoke, "But I'm glad you opened up to me. And about your eyes…"

She sighed, giving up. "I know…They look hideous. People who looked at me thought I'm blind."

Zane gave her a hint of smile. "I was going to say they're beautiful." He looked away shyly, "I…I think you're beautiful."

Cara stiffened. Her eyes went wider than usual. She quickly turned to him then gently rubbed her ears, not sure if she heard that correctly. "Did you just say I'm…beautiful?"

He slowly gazed back at Cara, "Yes. Yes I did." Afterwards, he held her by the hands, and surprisingly her left hand didn't spark with his. "Cara, everyone is different. Even I'm different. But…" He looked deep in her eyes, loving the eyes she has, "But, you are unique. Every time I'm around you…I feel like I am more than a machine."

Blushing immensely, Cara's felt another tear tracing down her left cheek. But her tear felt warmer as he heart was beating faster. In all her life, she had never been called beautiful.

And right now, he tears before transformed into tears of joy. Overwhelmed, Cara's lips curved into a smile and then suddenly embraced Zane, resting her head over his shoulder.

Zane froze. Although this time, his body softened with warmth as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Thank you, Zane." She whispered.

When they slowly parted, he met her eyes …then kissed her. First lightly, then Cara leaned in and kissed him deeper. She twined her arms around his neck as Zane wrapped his around her waist. He had no idea what came to him, but he felt so alive just being with her. He could even feel his system messing around hyperactively, in a good way of course. Cara on the other hand never felt so much in her life, and being with him even for a nindroid, was the best thing that happened to her. Soon, they separated yet still holding each other close.

It was a long night done, 10:30 pm to be exact. Zane and Cara walked together back to the bounty after passing through the village as the island folks watched them. In order for them to return to the bounty, they had to pass the village again. And for Cara, she was no longer bothered by them or the people from her past haunted her memories, only because he helped with her realizations about herself. Then, they exited the jungle and back where they first enter.

While they were walking, Cara's head was resting on Zane's shoulder and her arm entwined with his. Despite the evening they shared, she couldn't stop thinking about Dr. Julien. She still felt bad for everything. In fact, it was the whole reason why she wanted to talk to Zane before they ended up in a village that turned out to be a tourist destination. Cara parted from Zane and stopped her steps.

Zane felt her separation. He looked over his shoulder, seeing her looking down the sand with her lips frowned. "What's the matter, Cara?" He asked, walking towards her.

She sighed deeply, "I felt bad about your father…I feel like it's my fault. If I knew the snakes were coming for me, he would have still been here."

Zane frowned. He placed his finger underneath her chin, tilting up to face him. "Cara I don't blame you for what's happened to my father." He paused for while, looking away. "If anyone to blame it's me… The serpentines are fierce and dangerous. I should've been there when I knew something was wrong." He released a breath and glanced back at her, "Don't worry. We'll make sure to retrieve my father back."

Cara showed her barest hint of smile. With him saying that, she felt confident they will. But then, her mind drifted to her jacket. Just remembering what Zane told her or rather what he called her, made her decided it was time to reveal her true self. When Zane turned around to look at the distance ahead, where the bounty was located, he spoke, "We should be at the bounty in approximate twenty minutes." He went back to Cara, "We shou—!"

Before Zane could even finish his words, he became speechless after he saw Cara wearing a white halter dress that fits her very alluringly as she held her jacket. Her left robotic arm and robotic right leg were exposed, but she assumed she has no reason to hide them anymore…and never she will.

Cara shrugged, "I just figured to make some changes." She took a step forward, "What do you think?"

Zane smiled, "I think this change will suit you best." Just then, a strong course of wind blew across the island, which gave Cara an idea. She gave one last look of her jacket, reminding her old self, who used to conceal from everything…from everyone, but not anymore. With this, she finally let go as Zane and Cara watched it carry by the wind, drifting far away.

* * *

Meanwhile, far across the island and beyond the highest cliff sides, where the raging water collided against the huge rocks, Skales was alone, standing on the edge of the cliff. He was thinking of another plan since his idiotic associate grabbed the wrong person and not to mention his previous plan failed again.

At the same time, he looked afar to the distance because he knew in that point of expanse, where the ninjas are camping. Out of the blue, he heard yet a deep dark voice behind him. Skales didn't bother to look, when he knew it was his new obscured master.

"I'm guessing you don't have the gems I seek." He said.

"We will have those gemssss as sssoon assss we get the girl…"

"Girl? What girl?"

Skales turned around to see his so called master then glared at him, "There isss a girl who has been with the ninjassss helping them to find the gemstones you sssseek. She possessed a sssspecial necklace that leadssss them to the gemsssss…Once we have her, you'll have the gemssss…"

"Interesting…" He responded darkly, "When you get her…bring her to me to the far south part of Ninjago. There, you'll see a deep cave that lies an ancient temple." Skales' master began to slowly fade away like smoke, "But if you fail me again Skales…I can assure you will be my slave for the rest of your cold blooded life!" Then, he vanished in an instant. His last words echoed Skales' ears…and boy how much he wanted to end his master's life and regained their freedom.

But in the contrary, he felt determined to get it right this time…

* * *

Back in the Bounty…Kai, Jay and Nya were in the dining area waiting for Cole, plus their dinner they were expecting from him to grab. Since the serpentines stole all their food and curiously including the main food supplies stored below the ship. Cole decided to go fishing, even if it was evening

"What is he taking so long!?" Jay hit his fists against the table. Right after he said that, their moment of waiting was over when Cole came inside the dining room holding out a fat brown fish with bulging eyeballs covered in thorns instead of scales.

He held up his catch, "So who wants to eat!" The three stared at the thing in disgust, wondering if it was edible. Jay even quickly covered his mouth preventing himself from vomiting.

"Ah…Cole is that fish even edible?" Kai asked.

Cole looked at the fish then to Kai, "Of course it's edible! I saw this kind of fish at the market before."

Nya raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure it's the same fish?"

Cole's mouth was left agape until it frowned, "No…" After that, he tossed the fish through the port hole. And then, not a minute or so, Jay began to smell a good aroma, getting stronger and closer. He closed his eyes, inhaling all that scent. "Mmmm…What is that smell? It smells yummy!"

"Nya beamed, "It smells so good!"

Soon, the entire dining room started to smell like deep fried calamari, spicy smoked milkfish, and a hint of steamed dumplings. Zane stepped into the room, holding three bags which contained the cause of the smell. If Falcon didn't lead him and Cara to the village, he wouldn't able to bring some. Everyone on the room was glad to see the white ninja. Or was it because of the food?

"Zane, where have you been?" Cole said, "I didn't see you the whole afternoon."

"That's because I was meditating underwater." Zane replied. He looked away, "I guess I'm still worried about my father."

Kai stood from his seat, walking towards Zane. He placed his hand on his back, "Don't worry about it Zane. We'll get your dad back one way or another." Despite what happened between him and his brothers, Zane was happy to hear that from him. It meant so much to him.

As he turned to look at Kai, he was already gone including the meals he brought in his hands. He glanced around looking for it and the next thing he knew Kai was sitting at the table with the bags ripped open while he and the rest were eating. Kai had just swallowed the last calamari. Zane didn't even get the chance to try one.

Jay burped, patting his stomach. "Now that's good stuff!" He glanced to Zane, "Do you have anything more Zane?"

To think Zane would forgive his brothers, now he just regretted bringing those foods for them.

"Where did you get them Zane? Did went out fishing or something?" Cole asked.

Jay stared at him, "Ah…You can't fish for dumplings Cole."

"You do realize there's a village on the other side of the island, right?" Zane responded. "There were villagers who kindly gave me some."

"There's a village in this island? I thought this place in unfamiliar? Kai, Jay, and Cole stared at Nya, who thought the island she found on the map was infamous.

She shrugged, "What?! I didn't know." Kai looked around the dining room, wondering where Cara after he thought Zane came alone. He assumed she would be with his side since he had noticed the two were always together. That made him so curious why.

"By the way…where's Cara?" He questioned.

Meanwhile, Cara was inside Nya's room staring at the mirror, talking to herself.

She exhaled, "Ok…you can do this Cara. When they see the new me…don't be afraid."

Before Zane and Cara decided to enter the ship, Cara was really nervous when the others will get the chance to see her…the new her and her robotic appendages. It was time for her to face her fear.

"No more hiding Cara…" She gazed at the mirror longer than usual, reminiscing those memories she faced through the years, especially the part where she lived her life inside her miserable home because she was scared of people who hurt her… People who crushed her spirit.

"No more hiding…" Cara took a deep breath then released. "I'm ready!" And so, she exited the room. Closing the door behind her, Cara heard a bird screech outside by the deck.

She followed the sound. Once she reached outside, she noticed a silhouetted image of a bird standing on the left arm of the mast.

"Falcon?" She called, not sure if it was him. It screeched again then flew away east. That was one way of telling her to follow him. "Where are you going this time?" She asked, "Are you going to show me something?" The bird created a sound again, only this time it was louder. Cara had a feeling the bird wanted to be followed. But at the same time, she was tempted to know what Falcon will show her. She glanced back at the hall, where her friends at, and then back to Falcon.

"Maybe this won't take awhile…" she said. A minute later, she ran away to follow Falcon.

As she ran on the beach, the water roughly brushed Cara's feet while she watched the bird soar forth. After few minutes later, she found a tall cliff just ahead of her. Falcon flew up to the top. Whatever was the top of the cliff, made Cara feel chills down her spine.

After minutes and minutes of climbing, Cara finally made it around the cliff and saw Falcon standing on a boulder, in the darkest spot. Cara was panting from all that running and climbing, though she hoped it was worth it. She took time to recover her breath until she her breathing was normal.

"So…" She began, walking towards Falcon, "Why did you lead me here?"

And then, when the bird turned its head to the right, it revealed a glowing red eye with a long scar down to its beak. It was the same bird who attacked her back at the Arctic Ocean near the frozen wasteland, just mimicking Falcon. Flabbergasted, Cara backed away from the creature.

"Y-You're not Falcon!" She stuttered in fear.

"No? But he did show you ssssomething elssssse…" That voice…that horrible hissing voice she heard behind her could only mean one thing. Cara quickly turned around and gasped at the snake before her, Skales.

The three generals slithered out behind the tall rocks, laughing in evil. Four other serpentines came behind Cara then grabbed her by the arms, preventing her from escaping. She kept pulling her arms away, escaping from the snakes' grasp. But there was no luck.

"Enough!" Skales shouted. "Sssstop fighting you brat!"

"What do you want from me!?" She declared, struggling to escape.

He hoisted the tip of his tail, placed it under her chin, and lifted her chin up, making her to look into his eyes. However, he wasn't intending to hypnotize her, he had something much better intentions. "I want what you have…and I believe you know what they are."

Cara assumed he wanted to have the gems, since they have been after it like the ninjas do.

She glared at him, "What makes you think I'll just give them to you!"

Skales laughed intimidatingly, amused by the girl's lack information of his plan. "Oh I think you will bring them to me because—Bring me the prisoner!"

Cara was taken aback when she saw two constrictais clutching Dr. Julien, who was tied up behind his back and his mouth covered with handkerchief. The two snakes shove him to the ground. Dr. Julien managed to kneel up. When he did, he saw Cara right in front of her, captured like him. Shocked, he tried calling out for her, but all he could say were mumbled words because of the handkerchief around his mouth.

Dr. Julien!" She cried and then gazed back to Skales, "Let him go!"

Skles grinned. "Let'ssss make this ssssimple…we'll make a deal. Bring me the gemssss and I will set the nerd free." He chuckled, "Oh! Did I mention one of our comrade isss in your ship, putting dynamite as we sssspeak…"

Cara gasped. At this point, she knew he could not be trusted. But what other choice does she have? She also knew what will happen if she didn't accept the deal.

She sighed in defeat, "Promise me you'll release him and those dynamites not being ignited…"

He put his hand over his chest, "A ssssnake's solemn promisssse."

There was a moment of silence, and Cara had made her decision. "I'll do it."

Skales and the three generals exchanged glances at each other, grinning all the way. The two snakes lets go of Cara. Dr. Julien mumbled louder, telling her **'Don't do it Cara, it's a trap!'**

Because of all this, she began to walk away, heading to the bounty. But before she could start climbing down, Skales added, "And one more thing…don't even bother telling the ninjassss about this or elssse…"

She stopped and looked back, wondering what he meant by that. General Fangtom pulled out a dagger and placed it close to Dr. Julien's throat. It's blade almost touching his flesh. Cara quickly looked away, not liking what she saw. She could barely imagine if she fails to follow their agreement. She climbed down. When she went off, Skales brought his walkie-talkie out, calling Snappa on the other end, "Make sure the girl getsss the gem…"

Running back to the bounty, Cara's eyes prickled, almost she wanted to cry. Her knees felt wobbly while she runs. She never felt so scared in her whole life, especially when someone's life is on the line. Then all of a sudden, she stumbled over a large beach shell. She fell hard to the sand, and quite stayed there for two minutes, only because she was weakening.

_"Get up Cara…Get up!"_ She thought as she pushed herself up. Once she stood, she took a deep breath, summing her strength then began to running again towards the bounty.

Moments later, she reached the Destiny's Bounty, walking towards the deck. It felt like nothing had happened as she walked inside the ship. Everything was peaceful and normal, except it wasn't. Quietly opening the door, Cara stepped inside Nya's bedroom. She darted at the closet beside the divider, where the three gemstones were hidden. She opened the closet doors, and inside was a box. Cara hesitated in grabbing the gems. Deep down, her stomach felt twisted inside, feeling agitated.

Those gems in front of her were a symbol of her friends' struggle of obtaining them…and memories she shared with them during their mission. And she could not believe she would just take it all away. Suddenly, the three gems, including her pendant began to illuminate in synchronization. And then, the gems magically floated in air while her pendant glow steady. The gems circled in front of her eyes and just dropped down as she caught it.

That was new…What does it mean?

"What did just happen?" she asked herself, confused. What she didn't know, that there was a snake, Snappa, standing outside the room, following Skale's order. Now that Cara has the gems in her hands, it was time for her to leave. In this particular moment, she wanted to scream, letting the ninjas know there was trouble. But she couldn't. It was too risky, even might jeopardize Dr. Julien's life. Snappa smirked, "The girl has the gemssss…" He spoke through the walkie-talkie.

After several minutes later, Cara reached back to the top of the cliff. The generals were pleased she did a splendid job.

"Well done! Well done!" Skales praised.

Acidicus spoke, "Now, where are the gemsss?"

Cara held out the three gems he asked for. "They're right here."

Without warning, Skalidor snatched the gems from her hands.

"Hey!" Cara protested. She glared back at Skales, "You have the gems. Now, release him just like we agreed to our deal."

Skales looked up, pretending to think he had forgotten the deal, "Deal? What deal?" He snapped his finger, "Oh that deal!" Another silence crept around them until he said, "Tie the brat and bring the nerd! They're coming with us!"

Cara was utterly shock. "No! We had a deal!" She bellowed furiously.

Skaled waved off rashly, "That wasn't a deal. That was a lie!" He slithered close to Cara then leaned forward. "Humans like you should know that ssssserprentines like us could not be trussssted! And you were dumb enough to accept my deal." He leaned back then turned his back against her, slithering away.

The two snakes dragged Dr. Julien away while two more were coming her way to grab.

Cara was just standing, processing a plan as fast as she could. Then, it dawned to her. She ran to the edge of the cliff before the two snakes could even capture her. When she did, she immediately removed her necklace and stretched her hand away, holding it above a fifty feet high cliff with raging waves and sharp rocks below her. Everyone was startled by her sudden action, except for Skales.

"Let him go!" She warned forcefully. That was the time, Skales was alarmed. He quickly swiveled and saw Cara with the necklace in danger. He knew without the necklace, they will never find the fourth gem. Not only he didn't want that, but his master will never give his freedom back as well if he fails to stop her.

"What are you doing!?" He questioned angrily.

"What about this…" She began, "We'll make a deal. Release him…and take me instead. Or else…"

"OR ELSSSE WHAT!?" Skales roared infuriatedly.

"Cara suddenly, yet purposely slipping the necklace chain in her grip. "Or else I'll drop this one and you'll never find the last gem! And may I remind you I'm the only who could search for it.

So…do we have a deal?"

She loosened her grip again, making the necklace slip faster and it was also a timer for Skales to respond back. The general of the Hypnobrai lost his game. He replied in clenched teeth, "Well played girl…well played…" He signaled his two associates to release the prisoner. One of them used a dagger to cut the ropes then Dr. Julien removed the handkerchief around his mouth.

He ran towards her. "Cara, don't do this. They'll hurt you!"

Although Cara was really frightened, she kept it hidden then smiled at him, "It's ok…I'll be fine." But her expression changed to serious, "But I want you to warn the others. The ship is not far from here."

"Well…new prisoner." The left-headed Fangtom began.

"We are waiting for you…" The right-headed Fangtom finished.

Cara slowly pulled her necklace in and wore it around her neck. Next, she began walking towards Fangtom, who was about to tie her wrists. Just then, a rattle copter emerged behind the tall cliff as strong gush of wind produced by the blades blew across. Once all the snakes and Cara were inside the flying vehicle, Cara gave one last hopeful look at him. After that, the rattle copter flew away as Dr. Julien watched it. The only problem that was left for him was…how will he get down from a tall cliff?

* * *

Back at the Bounty, Kai was getting curious why Cara was taking her time in his sister's room.

They were all waiting for her after Zane told them she was going to tell them something. But it has been almost hours and Zane was beginning to worry.

"Maybe I should check if she's all right." Zane insisted, walking towards the hall. Nya stood up and said, "No, I'll go check Cara. I needed to check the gems anyway." So, Nya volunteered herself, walking out of the room. When Nya stood in front of her door, she knocked first, knowing Cara was still inside. "Cara, are you there?" There was no feedback.

She knocked again, "Cara, is everything ok? You stayed there for quite a long time."

Still, there was no answer. This time, Nya felt something wasn't right. Without hesitation, she opened the door. But what she saw after made her startled so. She found out Cara was not inside the room. The closet where the gemstones were hidden was left ajar, and worst, the gemstones were gone.

She gasped in shock, "Oh no!" But then, she began to hear a strange sound coming below the ship. It almost sounded like it was hissing. Was it Snappa? With this, Nya strolled down the stairs below the deck. The sound she kept hearing was getting louder and louder, yet she thought it was a hissing sound, but now it started to change as she gets closer.

Below the ship, Nya's eyes went wider than usual, seeing bundles of dynamites strapped around the wooden poles. The wicks were already been ignited. And it was for sure, Nya ran back up as quickly as she could, because the last time she saw those dynamites, its wicks were a minute away from exploding.

"GUYS! WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE!"

Alarmed, the ninjas heard her alarming voice and then ran outside. They saw her running towards them. "What's going on sis?" Kai asked. Nya stopped in front of her brother, panting. "There's…no…time…to explain. We have to get out of here before—!" Suddenly, the dynamites finally exploded as splinters of wood flew all over while fire and smoke spread out abruptly before Nya could warn them.

Dr. Julien felt a violent tremor around the cliff as he struggled to climb down. Afar from the island and in the night skies, Cara was startled when she heard a loud explosion from the distance and she saw a black smoke emerging from the island she once been. From the looks of it…she knew where it came from.

"No…" She whispered, her voice shaking then she cried out, "NOOOOOOO!"

* * *

**Chapter Ten: The Unleash **

The sun rose above the horizon. The gentle waves calmly greet the shore. Few albatross flew around the bounty's mast and some perched on top of it. In fact, it was the only thing the birds could perch on the ship. After the night of the explosion, half of the front of the bounty was completely obliterated. The bottom was also destroyed since most of the explosives were kept to explode by Snappa.

Splinters of woods were scattered all around. Ashes were smothered over the sand. Even burned furniture was everywhere. But most of all, the ninjas and Nya weren't in the scene until an arm suddenly bursts out from under the rubbles. It was Kai, the first one to surface. He pulled himself out as he pushed some chunks of wood aside. He coughed few times, probably from the explosion last night. There were small or perhaps tiny debris must've entered his throat.

"Augh…" Kai winced, rubbing his aching head. Then, the first thing that struck to his head was his sister. "Nya!" And so, he began digging some woods out of the way to find Nya. However, he stopped, hearing someone else coughing then a leg emerged, kicked a large plank of wood away. Cole slowly sat up, recovering himself. Jay was next followed by Zane. Kai heard another sound, this time it sounded like moaning, and it wasn't far. Kai had a hunch it was his sister still buried under the piles of wood.

He kept throwing the woods away again, desperate to reach for his sister. Minutes later, he saw something gleamed below the rubbles. He thought it was Nya's bracelet.

"Nya!" He cried. And not another minute, he finally found her. Kai beamed as he carefully pull his sister out. When he did, he embraced her. "You alright sis?"

Nya embraced him back, "I'm fine, Kai."

All of them managed to survive the incident. The ashes smeared on their clothes and scratches on their skin surely proved it. "What the heck happened last night?" Cole asked, walking towards Nya. "Where did those explosives come from?"

The two siblings parted. Nya looked at Cole, her head still feel dizzy. She slightly shook her head, "I—I don't know…I just found them strapped below the ship and—" Nya stiffened and her eyes widened. She just remembered something important. "The gems!" She exclaimed.

Everyone was alarmed. "Those gems must've been buried around here somewhere. Keep looking!" Cole commanded. Jay, Cole, and Kai started throwing out some debris while they search for the gems they worked so hard to obtain. Yet, they were oblivious about the truth. Zane on the other hand, was not worried of finding the gemstones. Instead, he was more worried of Cara. He hasn't seen her last night or even today. He thought she might be still under the rubbles.

Nya was surprised by their actions. She could tell they were desperate to look for it. But in the contrary, she could also tell their reactions if she tells them the truth. "Guys!" She yelled.

The four suddenly stopped looking then stared back to Nya.

"What?" Kai asked simply, carrying a broken chair over his head.

Nya bit her lips, "The gems are not here…they're gone!"

"WHAT?!" The boys shouted together in disbelief.

"When I went to my room to check Cara, she wasn't there inside and the gemstones were missing too." She continued, "Plus, I found dynamites below the ship."

"Dynamites?!" Jay said, confused, "Who put those things in there? And who do you think stole the gems?"

"I think I know the culprit." Kai spoke in a sternly voice.

Nya cocked her head, "You do?"

"Yeah I do! Cara _stole_ those gems while we were at the dining area!"

Zane was shock when Kai said that. He couldn't believe what he had just heard, knowing Cara would never do such thing. "What?! Why would she do that? She would never do that. And you do realize she's the one who helped us obtain those gems."

Out of anger, Kai took a step forward and poked Zane sharply on the chest. "Then why don't you run some programs to find those gems!"

Hearing this, made Zane angry. He took a step forward, his eyebrows furrowed at his three friends. "You know what, I am tired of you guys treating me like I'm some sort of tool than a brother! What's worst, you guys didn't even realize that ever since I told you from the beginning!"

Cole, Jay, and Kai all froze. It was the first time for them they heard Zane raised his voice like that against them. They knew he did tell them, but they were so blind of using Zane like a tool more than treating like a friend. Nya stiffened as well. It felt for her like the atmosphere around her got intense.

"Uhmm…I'll just stay right over there…" She said, slowly moving away from the boys.

When the boys were all left alone, Zane stormed out. Kai, who was still angry, was still confused that just happened. "What heck is wrong with him?!" He snapped. He looked back at his two brothers. They were exchanging glances at each other with a worried countenance and then they both glanced at Kai.

Kai shrugged at them, "What?!"

"That was wrong for you to say that, Kai." Cole proclaimed.

"Yeah, not cool bro." Jay added, his arms crossed over his chest.

Cole began to look down, processing the words Zane had mentioned. "Actually…what we did to Zane for the past few weeks wasn't cool either…" He gazed at his brothers, "We did treat him like a tool…as a matter of fact that's all we've ever done to him! Now I feel really terrible for just realizing that. I mean…there's a reason why he's our brother. He may be a machine…"

"Nindroid…" Jay corrected.

"It doesn't matter Jay!" Cole snapped then sighed deeply, "Like I was trying to say, he may be a 'nindroid' but that's not the reason why."

Jay released a breath as he rubbed the back of his neck, "I guess we went overboard of using him, huh?"

Kai slapped his forehead, "Gah! I feel like an idiot for saying that to him…I guess I owe Zane an apology…" Cole clung Kai's shoulder, "We owe Zane an apology. Now let's go find him."

Cole went ahead to find Zane. Before the two followed him, Kai spoke to Jay, "Hey Jay…I'm sorry the way I acted few days ago…about my _bragging attitude_. And calling you a wimp…"

Jay smiled and punched Kai on the shoulder, "Hey don't worry about it! I forgive you."

They kept searching for Zane for almost thirty minutes and there was still no sign of him anywhere in the island. Until, Jay saw him sitting by the shore. He called the others. And once they were together, they began to approach him.

Jay chuckled, waving at him, "Hey Zane! We've been looking all over for you. How've you been buddy?" But Zane did not answer nor didn't look at them. He frowned, "Ook..? It looks like you're not in the mood to talk…"

Cole shoved Kai forward. After all, he has more to apologize than the rest. He massaged the back of his neck, feeling nervous. "Ah…h—hey Zane…Look, I know your mad at me which you have the right. But I want to say I'm sorry. And I also want to take back everything I said."

This made Zane looked over his shoulder. Cole stepped in, "What he's trying to say Zane or what we're trying to say…is that we're really sorry for using you like a tool and we promise to never do that to you ever again. You're our friend Zane, not our tool."

"You really mean it?" Zane responded, "Of everything you said?"

"Well of course we mean it!" Kai snapped, "We don't want to lose you Zane. You're part of our family."

Moments later, Zane stood up and walked towards them. When he stopped in front of them, Cole reached out a hand for a handshake, "So…Friends?"

Zane just stared at his hand then to his brother, "No." The three were shock at his response, but then he changed his expression, showing a hint of smile in his face. Then, he took Cole's hand, "Brothers!"

After all things were settle. It was time for them to go back to business. While they were walking back to their wrecked ship, Zane could not help but to look down with worried features in his face. Kai was the first one to notice.

"You all right, Zane?" He asked.

Zane replied, "I'm just worried about Cara and my father. What's worst, we don't know where they are."

"You seem to care about her…mind asking why?" Jay questioned curiously. The white ninja stopped, thinking about Jay's question.

"I care for her because she seems…special to me." He answered. The way he replied sounded like he was literally thinking of her. In fact, it made the three curious why.

"Whoa! Wait a minute Zane…" Jay said, "Did you just say she's 'special' to you?"

Zane nodded, "Yes, why?"

"Do you…like her or something?" Kai added.

He took a minute to think then spoke, "I like her…but it feels I like her more than that."

Silence engulfed them. The three once again stiffened as their conclusion struck them down like lightning. "Zane…are…are you in love with her?!" Cole stammered.

Zane's eyes went wide when he heard the word _love. _All those time he couldn't understand what love is between two people, was unclear to him. But those times he felt with Cara, those feelings or _malfunctions_ he could not seem to calculate was love all along. The gesture he did with Cara during the night of the festival made him realize was love that made him do that.

Just remembering that evening, his feelings grew more for her, and the part she went missing, made him determined to find her. And now, he knew what love was about.

"I guess I am in love with her all these times…and I never knew." He stated, "Until today."

"Whoa! Tin head here is in love!" Jay announced happily.

Kai on the other hand felt bad for underestimating him to understand. He focused him as just a machine. He held Zane by the shoulder, "I guess I was wrong about you. You're more than a nindroid than I thought."

"And don't worry about your father. We'll make sure those serpentines will regret for dealing with us!" Cole confirmed confidently.

**_"ZAAANE!" _** Dr. Julien's voice was heard from afar.

"See? I could almost hear him calling for you." Cole thought the voice he heard only came from his mind, but it became strange when Jay, Kai, and Zane heard it as well.

"Huh…That's weird? I heard it too." Jay confirmed. "Wow. I didn't know your dad's voice could reach over our heads, Zane." For Zane, he sensed it wasn't just happening in his head, he felt his father's presence around somewhere.

**_"ZAANE!" _**

This time, Zane quickly turned around, and just behind him was his father running towards them. He couldn't believe his eyes seeing his father in sight, relieved that he was safe. He began to run towards him. The three followed him behind. Once Zane managed to reach to his father, he embraced him. Dr. Julien was thankful his son was safe after he heard a loud explosion from last night. He could not stop thinking what horrible things during the incident, but now that he's with him, he could finally stop pondering about it. A tear was dropped from his eyes as he embraced his son.

"I'm so glad to see you again my son." He whispered.

"I'm glad to see you too…" Zane slowly parted, "But how did you escape from the serpentines? And how did you find us?"

"Cara!" He cried, "She was captured and forced her to accept a deal. The snakes told her that if she steals the gems, they would let us go…but they lied and decided to keep us both. Then Cara forced a deal out of them. She said to take her instead in exchange for my freedom!"

"But I don't get it. Why didn't Cara tell us about this? We could've at least helped her." Jay questioned.

He continued, "The snakes mentioned about another comrade hiding in your ship. If Cara fails to follow the deal the ship will be exploded."

Cole smacked his fist to his palm, "That explains the dynamite found below the bounty! And that must be why the serpentines knew our locations. There's a snake hiding in our ship the whole time!"

"It looks like I owe Cara some apology for blaming her…" Kai sighed heavily, "I'm such a horrible person!"

"Where did they take her?" Zane asked finally.

Dr. Julien pointed his arm south, "They took south of this island. They're probably looking for the last gem." He glanced back at the ninjas, "You better save her before anything else happens to her."

"Wait a minute!" Jay protested, "Even if we know the location. How are we supposed to get there? The bounty is completely destroyed!"

Dr. Julien adjusted his glasses, "How far is the damage of the ship? Maybe I could repair it."

After their way back to the bounty, Dr. Julien was speechless, just standing by the wrecked ship, glancing over the damage that was caused by the explosion.

"So do you think you can repair it?" Cole reassured.

He cleared his throat, "I can…but it will take me days to finish the whole ship."

"Days?!" Kai snapped, "We don't have days! Those snakes might have the fourth gem before we could get to them."

"Perhaps there's an easier way…" Zane began, "Maybe we don't need to repair the whole ship. We could build a smaller ship and use the engine that was left from the bounty."

Dr. Julien beamed. He gave a pat on his shoulder, "Brilliant son! That's brilliant!" Then, he looked at the others, "We need to gather as many woods as you can and other parts we could use for the engine too!"

With that, the whole group began gathering woods, metals, and even the old sails they could use for their new vehicle. Nya noticed their old helm was still intact, along with the routers just next to. She figured the two could be in great use. When she was about to reach for it, she stumbled over an object and landed into a pile of woods. She sat up, rubbing her head.

"Ouch…" She said, "What the heck was that?" She searched for the object she tripped on and discovered it was the ancient book of the gems, which the ninjas had recovered from the serpentines. Nya grabbed the book, "I can't believe you're still intact after that explosion…"

But then, just when she was about to put it aside, she noticed a page corner, slipped out within the hardcover. With her curiosity, she gently pulled the paper out. To her surprise, she discovered anew.

"Hey guys check this out!" She called out loudly. Everyone heard her and set the gathered items aside, and then approached Nya. "What is it, sis?" Kai asked. Nya showed the page she pulled hidden inside the hard cover. It was the same page where it presents the four gems of the underworld, however there was something different about the fourth gemstone compared the one inside the book. In the book, the last gem was a black diamond. The one Nya found was a blue tear drop shape, similar to Cara's pendant.

"That's strange…that gem looks like Cara's pendant." Jay observed.

Nya gasped, "Not 'looks like' it is Cara's pendant! Do you know what this means?!"

"It means the fourth gem was Cara's pendant all along! The one that shows in the book must've been a fraud." Zane concluded smartly.

"Whoa! Wait a minute…then that means we had all the gems in our hands the whole time?!" Jay complained.

"I'm still confused here…" Cole admitted, "If Cara's pendant is the real fourth gem, why would there be a fake one in the book?"

"Whoever made that book didn't want anyone to have the gems, so that no one could open the portal." Kai answered.

Jay shook his head, "But I don't get it…if that's the case, why would they make that page! I mean, someone could've discovers it and open the portal and then everything would become chaos in Ninjago!"

"Because they knew someone would protect it." Zane declared, "Cara must have a reason why she had that pendant. And also…I think we still have a winning chance."

Kai tilted his head, "What do you mean by that?"

"It means…the serpentines only know about the fourth gem in the book, but none of them knows that Cara's pendant is the real one!" He added.

Cole held Zane by the shoulder, "Which is why we need to finish this ship and find Cara before they discover it." He placed his other hand lower in front, "Now who's with me?"

Everyone began placing their hands on top of Cole's then to another and yelled, "Ninjaaaagoooo!"

* * *

In the far southern boarders of Ninjago, tall mountains stood majestic on the land, covered in thick snow on the very high peaks as a strong gush of blizzard blew across the land. The whole place looked nothing like the frozen wasteland, but it was indeed hauntingly cold. The serpentines had just arrived in the frozen forest below the mountains. Skales pushed Cara into the snow, "Now keep ssssearching for the last gem, you rat!"

Cara pushed herself from the ground and glared at Skales, "I told you! The necklace doesn't work that way. It leads us to a place to find it—not you guys picking the place then forced me to find it!"

"Then what doessss your necklace saysssss?" Acidicus asked. Cara gazed down at her necklace. So far, it has only been glowing still, yet the brightness was dim. It was the first time it does that. Plus, whenever she puts her necklace next to the other gems, it would all glow at the same time. She is still wondering why it happens. But for the meantime, she kept her necklace beneath her blouse.

She looked back at Acidicus, not wanting him to wait, "I—I don't know…why it won't reveal the next location. Usually it leads us after two to three days."

Skalidor snorted, "This issss a complete waste of time Skalessss!"

Fangtom slithered next to Skales and the left-headed Fangtom spoke, "He issss right Skalessss! We are this close of getting our freedom back and yet we sssstill have not obtain the fourth gem! You better do sssomething about thisss or the whole sssserpentine clans will be against you!"

Skales suddenly waved off, "Don't blame me! Blame the girl! She'ssss our only ticket of getting our freedom back and yet she doessss nothing!" He took Cara by the left arm and began shaking her abruptly, "Did you hear me?! You better start looking you…you…" He quickly lets go of Cara. It seemed he was disgusted by the way he felt her arm, "Is that metal? Are you some sort of robot or ssssomething?!"

Cara did not reply. She was massaging her shoulder. The way Skales shook her caused her pain.

He scoffed, "No matter, freak…Perhaps it would be best if we bring you the massssster. After all, he did tell me to bring you to him."

"I am not a freak!" She announced loudly.

"Take her and follow me!" He commanded.

Two snakes clutched her arms and began dragging her on the snow as they follow Skales up the mountains through the blizzard. Helpless, Cara could see the distance away from her, getting blurry and blurry like hazy fogs. Deep down, she felt something died inside, like her heart shattered into pieces. All she could do was to hope her friends still survive the explosion, caused by the serpentines.

Would she be able to see her friends again? Another question remained: Would she be able to see Zane again?

An hour and a half later, the serpentines managed to survive the cold, rough, hazardous terrains of the mountain and found themselves on the top of the peak. Some of them were nearly frozen to death and would've been left behind. Cara on the other hand, remembered what Zane told her about dealing with cold temperatures. And for that, she wasn't affected by it.

When they have reached the very top, a cave was beyond them. Skales indeed followed his master's order, but surely enough it will be his last order to follow, once they've regained their freedom back. He led them into the cave.

Inside the cave was pitched black. Skales and the rest of the serpentines were wondering why their master would want them to be in a dark empty cave.

"Thissss place is pathetic! How are we supposssse to camp here." Skales complained. "The junkyard would be a better place than thisss…"

All of a sudden, numbers of torches hung by the walls lit up simultaneously until it reached by the end of the wall caves. Once everything was lighted up, the dark-empty cave Skales thought wasn't empty at all. Beyond them, were a great dark crystalized wall stood in front and an ancient temple hanging on the wall! Ancient scriptures were all written around the pillars and even on the ancestral statues.

The walls of the temple were already damage, judging by the spheres and arrows pierced through the walls, and large cracks on the pavements. Then, a kind of brown liquid smeared all over the roofs and the floor. But with the light from the torches, made it look like the temple was gold.

Cara was amazed at the sight in front of her, yet it brought chills down her spine. There was something about the temple she couldn't feel right.

_"I have got to get out of here…" _She thought in fear.

"What are we waiting for? Let'ssss go to the temple!" A Fangpyre member just walked forth, thinking it would be so easy to enter the temple just straight ahead, but he didn't realize when he took a step on the dark spot, he came falling to his doom. It turned out to be a huge pit in the center. Everyone could hear his fainting scream until they couldn't hear him anymore.

"Dummy!" Skalidor mocked proudly. Luckily, Skales found a passageway in the side jutted by the cliff, leading to the temple. Because of this, he told the rest of the serpentines to follow him. As they strolled their way to the temple or slither, Cara saw several bones scattered all over the ground. The whole place must've been under attack hundred years ago and it was long abandoned as well. Still, she wondered why the snakes' master would choose a place like this.

Cara didn't know who their master was, but she already hated him.

After several minutes later, Skales ordered his associates to throw Cara into the dungeon or prison cells, just for temporary right after Skales meet with his master. Thrown into a damp prison, Cara was shoved once again while Bytar locked the cage. "Don't get any ideasss of essscaping!" He warned. Next, he left her alone as he closed the main gate.

Cara slowly sat up, mustering her strength she had left. She grew tired of being pushed around lately. But from her past, it was something she was used to. The prison she was in was dark, yet there was a small ounce of light peering through the rusted bar window. There were two bunk beds but it was occupied by another two prisoners, whose bones were still surprisingly intact.

Bugs were crawling on the wall and the place just reeks. Cara wrapped her arms around her, feeling cold for some reason. She was all alone, no one to be with or to talk to. Besides being the place so damp, so does her spirit…

She sighed heavily, "I've always wanted an adventure…" She frowned and sobbed, "But not like this…"

After that, she crouched, burying her face onto her knees. All she could think of right now was her memories with her friends, including the moments they shared together during their missions. The most precious memory she treasured was meeting Zane.

For the first time in her life, she got the chance to meet someone who likes her for who she is. And because of him, she felt strength inside to show everyone who she truly is…but it was too bad she'll never get the chance to see him again and even her pet owl, Snow.

That saddened her the most. Cara never knew from running away just to get her book, led her to a real adventure. Just remembering that, she recalled what she said before she could step out to Ninjago.

"And no lock doors or bricked windows will stop me…" She whispered then she raised her head, with her eyes full of determination and hope, "And definitely no cage will stop me!"

With this, she stood up and began searching some objects around her prison, object that could help her unlock the cage. First, she went to the corpses, hoping she could find some knives in their rusted armor uniforms. When she didn't mean to touch the skull, the bones turned into dusts.

It wasn't intact after all…Cara coughed, waving off the dusts away. And then, she crouched down to look under the bunk beds, but there was no item was found. She quickly stood up and continued to search.

"C'mon…there's gotta be something in here!" She said, her hands placed on her hips.

Just then, right in front of her and across her prison cell, there was a broken sword on the floor.

Cara gasped at her surprise. With this rate, she could just reach the sword's blade and cut the joints connecting the cage door.

So, she started stretching her left arm to reach the blade. She kept stretching her arm as long as she could. At this moment, she wished her robotic arm could just automatically extend so that it would be easier for her to grab the blade without effort. But it seemed it doesn't work that way. The distance of her hand from the blade was only five inches away, yet she couldn't reach for it. Cara sighed deeply as she lowered her arm, frustrated. Was she going to give up?

Her only hope was there right in front of her so close yet so far… No matter how hard she kept stretching her arm, it would only remain five inch. Looking at the blade, she could see her reflection. However, in her reflection made her eye's widened to her new solution.

"My hairpin!" She exclaimed happily. She carefully removed her blue flower hair pin, the one that Zane picked out for her in the festival. Before she could use it to pick the lock, she had placed it over her beating chest, reminiscing that special evening.

Oh how she missed Zane…

Then, she began to use it to unlock the cage. There were a couple of twists and rotations here and there, but after quite a minute she heard a click!

Cara immediately pushed the cage open, it left a rusty creak, but there were no snakes who heard it. She finally stepped out of her cage then ran to

the main gate, hoping Bytar didn't lock it. Cara pushed the gate. She was relieved it wasn't locked. On her way outside, a long narrow hallway

appeared and a ladder just ahead. Cara went to the side of the wall. She checked both sides to see if anyone one was guarding, but there weren't

any.

She proceeded to the ladder and started climbing it. Cara may not be a ninja, but she learned some tricks from the ninjas. Opening the hatch, she pushed it aside, climbed out, and hid herself behind a pillar before she gets spotted by three snakes walking behind it. Once they walked further away, she darted at the next hallway.

Everywhere she goes, the hallways seemed like a labyrinth to her. Every time she goes to another room, it would lead into a dead end. Sometimes, it would lead her to another hallway. Of course, she would not give up until she finds an exit. When she took a left turn to another yet different hallway, she heard voices coming her way. Cara quickly stopped running. She took a step back and the wooden floor creaked loudly. The snakes heard it, alarmed by the sound.

Chokun turned around, "What wasssss that?" He insisted himself to check the mysterious sound, while he left his other two comrades. When he reached the second antechamber, she heard the sound, he would have expected there was some other snake or perhaps an intruder, yet there wasn't anyone there. Meanwhile, Cara was so close of getting spotted if she didn't hide behind the other rooms. Chokun took a last glance then left the area.

Cara wiped her forehead as if she had a sweat and sighed in relief. She poked her head out behind the wall, peeking if someone else was patrolling. While she was glancing, she took a glimpse at the antechamber. Compared from the same hallways she had been running through, this one was completely different. Without hesitation, she went inside the antechamber.

To her surprise, she saw a huge door carved with ancient markings and two warrior statues standing in each side. Below the door, was a gap with snow pouring in coming from outside. At that point, she knew that door could lead to her escape, and the best part was, it was a clean get away. No serpentines were around.

She quickly ran towards it. As she did, she looked back to see if anyone was preventing her when all of a sudden, she collided on something hard out of no where. She crashed to the floor.

When she looked up, she was shock to see a tall yet wide silhouette image standing before her as she crawled back away from it. She could not help but to think, _"What the-! Where did that come from?! It's like it came from no where!"_

Soon, the mysterious being began walking towards her, reaching its hands at her.

"No! Go away!" Cara cried in fear. To think she would be captured again, but instead, she heard it spoke calm and gentle.

"Cara?"

Cara stopped moving. In fact, she froze when it called her name. For some reason, the voice sounded awfully familiar to her ear. The silhouette image stepped into the lighted area, and to her astonishment, the one that she bumped to was her Aunt Helswig!

Cara blinked a couple of times then rubbed her eyes, making sure she wasn't dreaming, "Aunt Helswig!?" Aunt Helswig was stunned seeing Cara, her niece, lying on the ground in front of her. Before she could speak, Cara suddenly wrapped her arms around her waist, with her head leaning against her chest, like a daughter hug her mother. Cara may not like her aunt, but she was so happy to see her.

Aunt Helswig almost threw back from her sudden gesture, she did embrace her back.

"Are you alright, my dear?" She said softly, stroking her hair down.

"I'm alright…" Cara replied calmly.

Her aunt released a breath of relief, "Good…" She took another deep breath and yelled, "WHAT IN NINJAGO ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"

This made Cara throw back to the ground. All she could see from her aunt's eyes were pure anger. "Aunt Helswig I can explain!" She pleaded, standing up. "I didn't mean to be he—!"

"YOU RAN AWAY YOUNG LADY AFTER I RETURNED HOME YESTERDAY AND DISCOVERED YOU WEREN'T AT HOME!" Aunt Helswig placed her hands on her waist, "I WAS WORRIED SICK ABOUT YOU! I ALMOST CALLED THE POLICE TO COME SEARCHING FOR YOU. WHAT'S WORST…YOU DISOBEYED ME!"

Her loud voice echoed around the room, making Cara slightly panic, because with that volume of voice, the serpentines could hear them and her effort of escaping would be useless.

She shushed her, "Shhh! Please keep your voice down Aunt Helswig…you can yell at me all you want after we **get out of here**. The snakes could hear us."

She waved off, "Oh please I'm not afraid of snakes!" Then she turned her back, "And I just got here young lady…as an archeologists I should be able to find something here for my business. Since you are here, might as well help me look around."

Aunt Helswig walked towards the antechamber, where Cara had just been, and if she remembered very well…it was crawling with snakes.

Cara quickly caught her hand before she could enter, "No! You have no idea how big these snakes are. We need to get out of here now." She pointed her finger towards the huge door, "There's an exit right over there!"

Aunt Helswig pulled her hand away, "Cara seriously! Stop being so scared." She pinched Cara's cheek, "But don't you worry my dear…I'll protect you!" She cleared her throat and began walking towards the antechamber, "Now, come along. I'm sure I can find us a better exit…"

Massaging her cheek from the pinch, Cara looked back at the door she hoped to step out.

What possible other exits could be better than the one closes to them? She could barely smell the winter breeze just behind the door. She gazed back to her aunt again, who was already walking further away. There was something she could not understand her aunt, mysteries that lies in her head. Suddenly, she had recalled about what her aunt being said.

**_"YOU RAN AWAY YOUNG LADY AFTER I RETURNED HOME YESTERDAY…"_**

And then…

**_"And I just got here…as an archeologists I should be able to find something here for my business..."_**

Those sentences echoed in her mind… as she tries to decipher it. Cara ran after to her aunt.

Once she got closer to her, and also back in the same hallways, leading back to her prison cell she asked, "Aunt Helswig…C-Can I ask you something..?"

Her aunt didn't bother to look at her. "Sure, dearie…" She replied simply.

"You just said awhile ago that you returned home yesterday…am I right?"

"Yes dear."

"And then you said…that you just got here, right?"

"Mm-hmm."

"My question is…How did you get here so fast?" Was Cara's final question.

The only reason why she had asked that was because of the distance from her home and to the place where she's at right now. Surely, it would take her aunt days or a week to travel all the way to the abandoned temple, even if she had a vehicle it would still take her days.

But for her aunt, it took only a day or even less to reach the point of destination, almost as if she just teleported…

Helswig did not answer her back. Instead, she just stopped walking, staring at a copper door. Cara was beginning to worry and curious why she did so. She slowly approached her with her hand stretched out for her, "Aunt Helswig…are you alright? Aunt Helswig..?"

All of a sudden, a black smoky shadows burst between the gaps of the wooden floors like geysers. Shocked, Cara immediately backed away, shielding herself as more black shadows emerged through the cracks of the walls, racing its way towards her aunt. Loud howling wind blew inside the temple and then all the shadows came swirling around Helswig until she was completely covered.

"Aunt Helswig!" Cara cried, trying to push herself against the wind. Soon enough, she heard a sinister laughter coming from her aunt. When all the black shadows completely engulfed Helswig, it transformed into a black spiritual robe with a hood, covering her head. Her eyes fiercely glows macabre yellow. It was none other than the serpentines' master!

The wind stopped blowing. Cara fell to her knees. She gazed up to her aunt or was she even to be called her aunt? Just then, something grabbed her arms from behind, the snakes have arrived!

"Where do you think you're going, prissssoner!" Snappa hissed angrily, clutching her arms.

Skales, followed by the other three generals, arrived at the scene, holding their snake staffs.

"What issss the meaning of thisss?!" Skales demanded. When he saw Cara, he wasn't surprise she got captured again nor wasn't he at his master's presence.

"It sssseems you two have already met…Master." Acidicus spoke. Cara's eyes went wide when she heard what he last stated at his sentence. "You're their master!?"

Helswig slowly reached to her hood then uncovers her head, "Of course I'm their master…_dear_ who else do you think it would be?"

All the generals, especially Skales were utterly flabbergasted and froze as they dropped their staffs. "YOU'RE A WOMAN!?" Skales exclaimed in disbelief. "BUT YOUR VOICE SOUNDS LIKE…"

With a snap of her finger, she activated her powers to electrocute Skales. Once more…and more…Skales was tortured. "SSSTOP IT! PLEASE! YOUR VOICE SSSOUNDS BEAUTIFUL!"

He begged in pain. Even though he was being tortured, he could almost gag for saying it.

Helswig snapped her finger, "Why thank you, my most favorite slave."

Cara was dumbfounded. She was still speechless at the horrible-torturous scene she just witnessed, actions that were done by her aunt. She knew her aunt was horrible, but she never thought she would be so evil. And now that she knows the truth, her aunt was the reason why the serpentines kept stealing the gems…to open the underworld or what she prefers as her _business._

Cara did her best to catch up with her breath. Once she did, she glared at her aunt, "All this time it was you…YOU wanted the gems all along to open the portal of the underworld!" She scoffed at her, "No wonder why you keep leaving me for a long time. You were searching for them the whole time."

Helswig gave her a sternly and fiercely gaze. She went to her and grabbed her by the neck as she lifted her, "First of all…you little insignificant freak! I've been searching for those gems a long time ago. And thanks to those ninjas for taking out Lord Garmadon, I can finally take his place and show Ninjago that evil such as my self still exists…and I swear you are as stubborn as your parents!"

Cara's eyes went wider than usual. Her heart felt it got struck by needles.

"You…you knew my parents..?" She stuttered, pulling Helswig's hand around her neck.

Helswig smirked, "Of course I knew your parents, my dear…they were the guardians of the gems to prevent **me** from getting them…but they didn't last long after I took them out. And when I did, I stole you from them, took you in, and raised you."

"You didn't…raise me! All…you ever…did was to make…my life miserable!" Cara scolded, struggling to breath.

"Well it's not my fault you were born **so…very…very** **different**." She released Cara, "But then I guess that made my job easier…" She laughed menacingly at the end.

Cara fell hard to the floor. She rubbed her neck while she coughed. After that, she watched Helswig walked away towards the door. Then, she spoke again, "Once I have all the four gems, I can finally start the ritual to unlock the portal and then control the creatures of the underworld in my command!" She opened the door, revealing a secret chamber with the same ancient scriptures marked all over the walls. The walls itself has holes like small shelves, contained with ritualistic relics, small demons of sorts.

The dark mistress entered the chamber as she used her powers to light the lamp torches. All of the serpentines followed her, gathered around the center. Fangtom and Acidicus dragged Cara inside and shoved her to the ground in front of Helswig.

As Cara stood up, she said, "It's too bad you can't open the portal…not without the fourth gem."

Helswig furiously darted at Skales, "WHAT!?" Her black spiritual robe lashed out some sort of shadow like tentacles and then coiled it around Skales, dragging him closer to his master's wrath. Skales trembled in fear. In fact, everyone in the chamber trembled before her.

She roared, "YOU IMBASIL! YOU DON'T HAVE THE LAST GEM AND YET YOU HAVE THE ORDACITY TO COME HERE?!"

He crossed his arms over his face, shielding himself "B-B-But you sssssaid… if we ca-capture the girl we would meet you here…"

She squeezed Skales tight, "And I also told you to bring all the gems!" She threw him away, "I assumed you don't the rest of the gems either!"

"We have them! We have them!" Skales responded in panic, his body coiled like an embryo.

Cara scoffed, her arms folded across her chest, "Ha! Looks like you won't be able to open that portal after all!"

Another shadow like tentacle whipped out from her spiritual robe. It grabbed Cara around her body as she moved her closer, "How dare you say that to me you…you ungrateful child!"

She began to squeeze her tightly like she did to Skales. Because of this, the three gems were squeezed out from her pockets and clinked to the ground.

Helswig loosened her grip around Cara when she noticed a flashing item beneath her blouse, glowing brighter and brighter. She assumed it was a sort of pendant while she pulled it out from her blouse, observing its mysterious light.

She had never seen Cara wore a necklace before. They were living together for years, yet Cara didn't bother showing it to her, especially the kinds that glows mystically.

"Where did you get this..?" Helswig locked gaze at her pendant then to the gems. She did this over times, processing it until it dawned to her.

"Why didn't I see this before..." She whispered, her eyes still looking on the gems. "All these years the fourth gem is with you all along… Your pathetic parents hid the last one to you…" She chuckled insanely, "And it's mine…It's mine! For centuries I finally have them all!"

Soon, real insanity consumed her, laughing all the way dementedly. Once she started to calm down, she snatched Cara's pendant. "You'll never get away from this!" Cara protested, "My friends will stop you they'll—!"

Helswig threw her away towards the snakes to capture before she could finish her words. "Friends? You have friends?" She laughed at her, while the snakes laughed as well, though only because they might get tortured if they didn't laugh with her. "What makes you think you have friends, Cara?" She grabbed her robotic left arm, showing it to everyone, "Look at you! No one will want you to be their friend. You're nothing but a white-haired freak. And even if you have friends…I'll make sure to finish them just like I did to your parents!" And then, a loud howling screech echoed across the chamber.

The serpentines knew where the sound came from, and they knew exactly what it is. The eagle with a scarred beak swooped through the door then around the chamber. It perched onto its master's arm. Cara couldn't believe her eyes. "That thing belongs to you?!" She said, "You said were allergic to birds..?"

Helswig shrugged, "I lied."

Cara pulled her left arm away from Helswig's grasp, "You mean to tell me Snow could've been free instead locking her up in a cage..!"

She turned her back against her, walking away and said, "Just like you dear…" Afterwards, Helswig commanded three serpentines. One from the Venomari, one from the Hypnobrai, and one from the Constrictai.

She spoke sternly at them, "You three! Bring this girl to the—!"

"NOT SSSSO FAST!" Skales interrupted.

Everyone was gasped, shocked he stood up against their master. The dark mistress turned around at his attention. Skales added, "We had a deal, remember? You said if we bring you the four gemssss, you'll ssssset us free…"

All the serpentines gazed back to their master, anticipated of what she'll say next.

"Correction my slave! You didn't bring all four of them." She answered.

Skales' eyes went wide, "What?!"

She elaborated, "You see…you only brought the three gems to me while I was the one who found the fourth…so technically I pretty much own you now."

"That'ssss not fair!" He turned around, glancing at all the serpentine tribes, involving the three generals, "You can't let this happen to us! We sssserpentines deserve to be free and not being enslaved by this monster. Choose your sssside…would you rather be with her being sssslave for eternity…or would you rather be with me, where we can fight against her and take our freedom back! Now who's with me!?"

There was a long awful silence. Then the truth came out. Majority of them backed away from Skales, just gawking at him, thinking how fool he was to stand against their new master. The three generals were huddled together, having a small meeting. When they were done, General Fangtom shoved Skalidor to tell the results. He was terrified, shaking in fear.

"We…choose…her." He declared, trembling. Skales couldn't believe what he heard from them.

"You'd rather be with this old hag as your leader than me?!" He proclaimed without fear.

Skalidor ran back behind the two generals, who were also shuddering. Skales turned around and saw Helswig's wrinkly and saggy face right in front of him, glaring.

He gulped, "Uhmm…d-d-did I ssssay…old hag?" He swallowed again, "What…I meant to-to saaaay wasss…young ha-hahahag?" After he said that, he crooked a smile. And it was for sure, everyone knows what will happen next…

Moments later, Helswig went back to the three snakes she was about to give a command if Skales didn't interrupt. "Like I was saying…" She began, "There's a tomb just below this chamber. Bring her there...and let her rot!" Without hesitation, the three snakes grabbed Cara and started dragging her to her new permanent prison.

Cara kept pulling her arms away, trying to escape from their grasp, "No! You can't do this to me. You can't always keep me lock forever!"

When the three snakes managed to find the tomb their master was talking about, they pushed Cara inside while two snakes began pushing the boulder to seal the tomb tight. Little by little, the light inside the tomb was vanishing until complete darkness was all that was left. Cara quickly stood up and ran towards the closing boulder before the snakes could even shut the tomb, but she was too late…

She kept pounding the rock over and over again, "Let me out! Let me out!" Soon enough, her arms were getting tired and her eyes were welling with tears, "You can't…do this…to me…"

Her body began to weaken as she slowly slid down to the cold ground, leaning against the solid wall. Everywhere she looked, all she could see was darkness. It was like she was back to her old house, only this time there was no sunlight for her to feel or to see anymore.

The things she saw…The things she heard…The truth she learned about her parents, everything made her world shatter to million pieces. Cara lay down hopelessly on the ground with her tears tracing down her cheeks. For her, it seems nothing matters to her anymore…

* * *

In the southern seas, a small ship was on its voyage in the calm waters.

"I gotta say I like the new Mini Bounty." Jay admitted as he tapped the mast, checking if it's sturdy.

"Ah…Mini Bounty?" Kai said, confused.

Jay shrugged, "Well yeah. It looks almost like the bounty. Except its smaller, it doesn't fly either like the old bounty, and it only has one rocket booster—but what the heck! It's still Zane's good idea to build it." He looked at Dr. Julien, "It's a good thing the engine still works, right doc?"

Dr. Julien answered, "I'm surprise it still works too Jay. The outer parts may be damaged…but thanks to Cara's hairpin for the center electrode, it's what keeping it alive. "

Just mentioning her name, Zane could not stop worrying about her. The worst part that he had been troubling about was the fact he doesn't know what the serpentines might do to her. He shook his head to throw the thought away then sighed heavily. A hand held him by the shoulder. He looked back, and saw his father standing beside him.

"Don't worry my son. I'm sure she'll be alright." He believed.

Cole was standing by the port bow, watching Zane's Falcon lead the way. Ever since they were done building the small ship or what they called 'Mini Bounty' and they set it out to the water, Falcon appeared, screeching them to follow. Cole went to Nya, who was controlling the helm.

"Hey Nya, how far do you think the destination is?" He asked.

Nya shook her head and chuckled, "Don't ask me, I'm just following Zane's falcon." She began to squint her eyes, seeing something far from the distance, "I think I might answer your question now, Cole. Cu'z I'm pretty sure we're really close to the destination."

Cole was confused at first by her feedback, but when he followed Nya's gaze, looking straight ahead. He did the same and was surprise he saw a think hazy fog just in front of them, like a boarder, almost the size of an island. The rest of the team witnessed the same thing. Then Falcon flew back to Zane, perching onto his arm. It screeched again.

"It must be telling us to go through..?" Kai guessed. As they enter the hazy fog, Nya had hard time seeing the direction because of the mist around them. She couldn't tell if there were wrecked ships crashed by the jutted rocks in the seas or sharp rocks that she might crash into.

All she could do was move forward, hoping any of that wouldn't happen. An icy breeze blew towards the ship.

Kai shivered. He started to rub his arms, making himself warm. "Is it me…or is it just keeps getting colder and colder."

Jay on the other hand felt his stomach twirled out of nervousness. "I have a bad feeling about this…"

Nya glanced everywhere she look. "I wonder if there's land somewhere…at least that way we can if were here or no—Woah!" All of a sudden, the ship crashed against a rocky shore, which made everyone fell to the floor because of the impact. Except for Nya, she managed to hold onto the helm tight. It turned out, the ship found land itself or was it the land found them?

"I think we're here…" Cole announced, regaining from his fall. Zane helped his father stand up while Falcon flew away again and landed on a tree branch. Once everyone got to their feet, the ninjas jumped out of the ship and then walked their way to the shore. The fogs fade away as they get closer to the main land. Behind the hazy fog, it revealed an open forest covered insanely with ice.

"What is this place?" Cole took a glance of the area while he walked forward then he stopped his steps when he felt his shoes pressed on something cold. He checked his shoes and discovered it was snow. "Huh? Snow?"

Kai however was starting to shudder from the low temperature with his teeth chattering.

"I c-c-c-could r-really use a warm va-vacation after…we're d-done with this!" He stuttered.

His eyes went wide, an idea came to his mind. He pulled out his elemental sword of fire, and with its heat, it gave him warmth to his skin. Kai sighed in contentment, "Much better…"

To Cole's previous question, Zane answered, "Falcon led us here to the far South. That's almost close to the frozen Wasteland. This explained why the winter atmosphere." His Falcon screeched yet again. The ninjas looked to its attention.

Jay raised an eyebrow, "What is it trying to tell us this time?" Falcon turned his head left, pointing up to the mountain. "It seems he wants us to go there." Zane responded, looking at the mountain peak. "The serpentines must have taken Cara up to that mountain."

"Don't tell me we have to climb that." Kai complained, still holding his sword close.

Cole started walking towards the path, leading to the mountain, "If we want the serpentines not to open the portal…Then **yes **we're climbing it. Now, let's go!"

Before Zane could follow the others, he gazed back to Nya and his father, who were standing by the ship. "Nya, Can you look after my father while we're away?" He requested.

"Sure Zane. I'll stay with him." Nya confirmed.

Dr. Julien spoke, "Come back safely son, including your friends as well."

Zane Nodded, "I will father." With this, Zane ran after to his friends, and most importantly, to Cara…

Through the blizzard, the ninjas pushed themselves against the strong wind as they also pushed their legs forward through the deep snow. When it came to the steepest part of the mountain, which Cole found it unchallenging for him since he climbed higher mountains before, they climbed their way while helping each other not to fall or lose grip. Although it happened to Kai after a jutted rock he grabbed broke off the surface. He thought he was going to fall but luckily Zane caught his other hand before it could even happen. Brothers need to look out for each other.

After thirty minutes of mountain climbing, the blizzard stopped and the ninjas managed to reach to the top. Beyond them, they saw a cave. The way they saw the cave almost reminded them the Mountains of Thorns, though there was something eerie about it. But they did not hesitate to ask, in its place, they entered the cave. In their minds, they assumed it would be just a deep shallow cave, where below the serpentines are located. Or, a long cave, leading to a big chamber…They thought wrong.

"Is that a hanging temple?!" Jay exclaimed in disbelief. The boys took a glance of the hanging temple, even observing its infrastructure.

"It looks like this temple looks very old…" Kai described, "Those supporters below the temple also looks like they're about to give in."

Cole looked to his brothers as he walked towards the temple, not looking where he's going.

"C'mon let's not waste our time here. We need to keep moving." He ordered. But then, Kai noticed he was walking towards a pit. In an instant, he quickly grabbed the back of his shirt then pulled just as Cole was about to set his foot to his doom. Cole looked back why Kai pulled him away. He found out he was walking towards a very deep cliff. If it weren't for Kai, he would've fall.

"Thanks Kai." Cole replied, his hand over Kai's shoulder.

"Hey Guys!" Zane called out, "I found another way to the temple."

Indeed, he found a passageway, the same it was used by the serpentines to enter into the hanging temple. As they walked towards the entrance, Jay could not help the feeling the place was haunted or cursed, judging by the bones scattered on the floor and the hand prints smeared all over the wall. Entering the temple, the gates behind them hauntingly shut, which made Jay jumped off, terrified by the loud rusty screech.

"Keep it together Jay." Cole asserted, "We need to be in our A-game." He wore his hood on, followed by the three, "Alright brothers…stay alert. This place must be crawling with snakes already. And, keep an eye on suspicious rooms they might hold Cara locked inside. When we get her, we'll get out of here as soon as possible."

"Since we are in a temple, this place must have prison cells below. We should start looking there." Zane implied.

"Good thinking Zane. We'll start looking there." Cole affirmed. And so, Zane, Kai, Cole, and Jay went for their search for Cara. Like what Cara experienced, the ninjas found the temple like a labyrinth. They went room to room, but nothing was there. They went through many hallways, but for them it looked exactly the same like the rest, and sometimes they felt they had already been there. But the one thing they noticed, there were no serpentines in sight.

"This temple is so messed up!" Kai complained.

"I'm starting to think Zane's falcon led us the wrong way…" Jay doubted, "I mean…I haven't seen any snakes roaming or even guarding the area!"

"His falcon is never wrong. Maybe we just need to keep looking hard." Cole maintained.

Zane placed his finger under his chin, "Let's stop and think for awhile…If I were the guy who built this place…what entrance to the prison chamber would look like?"

While Zane, Kai, and Cole rambled their brainstorming, Jay caught a glimpse on a strange samurai statue in the corner of the wall. For some reason, it

almost looked similar to Nya's samurai uniform…or better yet, just any samurai uniform reminded him about Nya. Though she may be left by the ship

with Dr. Julien, he hoped nothing bad happens to her. Then, he decided to take a closer look of the statues as he walked towards it without realizing

there was open hatch on the floor. He fell down, screaming.

When the three heard him, they all turned to the opened hatch, where Jay fell.

"JAY!" They cried in unison, running towards the hatch. They looked down below, seeing nothing but black.

Kai placed his hands both sides of his mouth, projecting his voice louder, "Hey Jay! Say something if you're alright!"

There was a long silence, but Jay responded back, "Hey guys get down here and have a look at this!"

The three smiled, knowing their brother was fine. One by one, the three went down the hatch.

The place they were at was dark and damp. Right in front of them was another gate left ajar.

The ninjas entered it. And on the other side of the gate, they discovered the prison chamber!

Jay was at the prison alley, standing in front of a certain jail. He turned around, seeing his friends walking towards him. "Uh…guys, remember what I told you about Zane's falcon?"

"Yeah, why?" Kai replied.

He chuckled nervously, "Well…I take it all back!"

Kai cocked his head in puzzlement, "Huh? What do you mean?"

Jay pointed his finger at the prison cell he was standing in front of. As the three went closer, they gasped at the sight before them.

Inside the cage, was the leader of the Hypnobrai tribe, Skales. His body all crooked up with black burned spot all over his body and sparks of electricity still left in his system. Not to mention he smelled like fried snake. After Helswig punished him in a long period of time for calling her an _old hag, _she ordered the other snakes to put him into the prison chamber to learn his lesson.

Jay leaned close to Cole and whispered, "Do you think his dead?"

"Why is the leader of the Hypnobrai doing here?" Kai asked, puzzled.

"The question is… why would his own people let him imprisoned here?" Zane revised Kai's question.

Jay snapped his finger, "Oh maybe he knows where Cara is!"

"Well there's only one way to find out…" Cole walked towards the unlit torch hanging on the wall. He took it, and used it to poke Skales, hoping he would wake up. He kept doing it over and over until they heard Skales groan in pain and a slight twitchy movement as well. Skales began to slowly open his red spiraled eyes, his vision was blurry at first, but after awhile it cleared.

He saw the ninjas standing outside of his cage. He groaned, "That'ssss impossible…you ninjassss were ssssupposed to be dead!"

Kai snapped, "Well we're not so deal with it, snake breath!"

Cole walked closer to his cage, giving him an intimidating look, "Tell us where they took our friend."

Skales snorted, followed by a twitch, "Hah! What makessss you think I'll tell you." His body twitched again, "Help me esssscape this prison and I'll tell you where your freak friend issss."

Hearing this, Zane furrowed his eyebrows, feeling angry for calling Cara a freak. He went towards the cage, "She is not a freak. The only freak around here is you. Now tell us where she is!"

Stubborn as usual, Skales looked away with his arm crossed over his chest, "Never! Not unless you help get out of here…"

Kai lost his patience. "Why you little..!" He grabbed his neck and start strangling him back and forth as Skale's head kept smacking against the metals bars.

Jay quickly grabbed Kai's arms, pulled him away from Skales, and stepped in front of him, preventing him from getting to the snake. "Whoa! Whoa! Easy Kai! I don't think strangling him won't help."

Cole released a heavy sigh, frustrated of Skales' worthless cooperation. Even if Kai would rage on him, he wouldn't able to cooperate with them. Unless…

"Alright guys…huddle up!" Cole commanded. Once they did, Cole firstly spoke, "Ok…I gotta admit, this one is really hard to deal with. Should we do what he says?"

Jay replied, "There's no way we can trust him or any snakes. That's why they're called _snakes."_

_"_But if we don't get his answer, it will take us time to find Cara around this temple." Zane looked at Kai, "What do you think, Kai?"

Kai answered, "As much as I would like to strangle him more…Zane has a point. If we want to find her fast, might as well do what he says."

After their meeting, Cole went back to Skales. "Alright…you got your wish. We'll let you out if and only if you tell us where she is." He said.

Skales hissed, "Why of courssssssse…" And for that, Cole took his elemental sword of earth then cuts the latches of the cage. The door cage fell whereas dusts swirled away in the air. However, Skales was still standing inside his prison, staring at the ninjas.

This made the boys confuse why he act such way. He was free…what else is he waiting for?

Jay slowly scratched the back of his head, "Uh…you do know your cage is open, right?"

Cole waved away, "Enough of this! Now tell us where she—Oof!" Suddenly, Skales lashed his tail around towards the ninjas as they got smacked against the sett stone walls. They fell to the cold ground while Skales slithered away to escape. The impact caused the whole prison chamber shook while falling debris were everywhere.

"So long ssssuckers!" He mocked, running through the narrow chambers.

Standing from his fall, Jay glared at his brothers, "There goes our answer to our problem! I told you snakes can't be trusted."

Cole brushed off the dusts off his sleeves, "I admit…it was an honest mistake for letting him out."

"When I find that stupid snake…he'll regret for doing that to us!" Kai proclaimed furiously, pounding his fists.

Zane just stood up, dusting off some debris off his white uniform, but then something caught his attention of a gleaming object by the third prison cell. He went there, and found a familiar object…Cara's blue flower hairpin.

He picked it up to observe. Knowing it belonged to Cara, he noticed the pin was already bent and twisted, indicating she must've used it to pick the lock and escape.

"What cha got there, Zane?" Jay asked, walking towards him. Cole and Kai were behind him then saw what Zane was holding. "Where did that thing come from?" Kai questioned.

"This is Cara's…" Zane answered wearily. "This belongs to her…"

The three were surprise at his reply. Cole raised a brow, "Really? How did you know?"

"Because…" Zane found it hard to answer his question, he didn't know why, but somehow he felt shy to answer him, "I… gave it to her."

The way he answered made Jay realized he was in the verge of dating a girl. An experience for Zane he hasn't encountered before, and giving a flower to a girl is a first step to him. Jay knew this because he had been asking Nya for a date, though sometimes he fails to ask her out. Jay went closer to Zane and nudged his elbow to him a few times, "Looks like I'm not the only one to have a date in this team…" He winked, "If you know what I'm saying."

Zane blinked few times. In his mind, he doesn't know what Jay was trying to say, confused even. "I… guess..?" He responded, sounding unsure. He shook his head, not losing his focus, and then he went back looking at the hairclip, deciphering the past event that took place.

"Cara must've been here three hours ago before we came to this temple. She escaped using this hairclip…"He sighed heavily, "The same question still remains though…"

"You mean like…where is she?" Cole finished. Just then, the floor began to quake. Loud rumbling rocks echoed through the prison chamber.

"WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE NOW!" Kai bellowed.

But before the ninjas could even move out from the whole place, the floor they were standing on collapsed, causing them to fall into the lower level prison chamber then to another and another and another until they all crashed to the bottom of the temple, buried under the rubbles. Cole, Jay, Kai, and Zane became immobile and unconscious…

After twenty minutes…Zane was the first one to wake up, followed by Cole, Jay, and Kai.

Cole pushed his back forward, hearing a couple of crunches in his spine. "Augh…my back!"

Jay, still laying flat on his face, grumbled, "My everything…"

Kai just twisted his neck then proceeded to help Jay, "I'm here buddy."

Jay lends his hand to him while Kai pulled him up. Once Jay was back on his feet with dirt on his face, Kai looked up at the huge hole in the ceiling, where they fell from. He could barely see the height of distance, judging by the number of floors they had crashed into…six floors perhaps?

He placed his hands over his hips, "Yup! I was right. This place isn't really gonna to last long…"

Jay glanced around at the place they were at or rather they had fallen into. It seemed they landed to another hallway, leading to one direction. Along the hallway were funerary statues with some of its face ripped off and body parts crumbled on the floor. It was also crawling with strange ten legged insects, plus the hallway lacked lit torches. But by the end of the hallway, there was brighter light.

When they reached at the end of the hallway, they found themselves inside a peculiar room.

And inside that peculiar room...was a tomb. But for Kai, it was a dead end. He groaned, "I hate this to say this but…this is taking us no where! Everywhere we go led us nothing!"

"Calm down Kai!" Cole exclaimed then released a heavy breath, "Let's see the positive side…We all know Cara escaped—"

"But we don't know where she is Cole!" Jay interfered, "What if we can't find her!? What if we're too late!" Soon, Jay felt his anxiety began to consume him, along with discouragement. "What are we going to do?!"

"Enough!" Cole snapped irately. Kai and Jay stiffened by his strict voice.

He continued, "Listen…if Sensei Wu was here he wouldn't let us to be seen like this. There's a reason why he left and I'm not just talking about his vacation! He gave this mission to ourselves because he knew we wouldn't give up!" He darted at Zane, "Right Zane?"

But Zane was quiet and did not answer him back. He was staring at the tomb sealed by a huge boulder. He had his hand over it. For some reason, he could not help the feeling that something was inside. For him, it looked natural to touch a boulder as if he just adored it, but for his three brothers it seemed awkward…

Cole called out, "Zane… Are you feeling ok?" The ninja of ice didn't respond again. Jay, Cole, and Kai exchanged glances at each other while Jay circled his finger over his right ear, telling them that Zane's getting crazy.

Cole walked towards him, "Oook…I don't know what you're doing right now, Zane. But, you're creeping us out."

Zane looked over his shoulder, "Help me move this boulder."

Cole paused, his eyes widened. "Wait what?! You do realize that's a tomb, right?"

"Are you crazy!?" Jay said, "You can't open an undisturbed tomb. Let the guy rest in piece, Zane!"

"I sensed there's someone inside this tomb." He replied.

"Well of course there's someone inside." Kai snapped, "It's a tomb for crying out loud! There's a dead person lying in it."

Zane took a deep breath as calmly as possible, not letting his brothers' protests get to his system. He spoke serious in his tone, "Are you going to help me or not?" The three boys looked at each other, thinking the same idea that they have to trust his instincts.

Jay rolled his eyes, "Fine we'll help…But I am not going inside!"

Thus, all four of them began pushing the boulder. On the other side of the boulder or inside the tomb perhaps, Cara felt vibrations on the ground she's laying down and a rumbling noise, almost it sounded like heavy stones grinding against another stone. That's when she realized the boulder was being moved.

At that point, she was scared. Her mind drifted into horrible thoughts why the tomb was opening. Could it be her evil aunt on the other side of the tomb? Or could it possibly the serpentines? She quickly stood up and then backed away until she was in the corner of the wall, with no place to go and no place to hide. All she could was let things happen as she crouched down covering her face with her hands.

Little by little, a ray of light poured inside the tomb and the boulder suddenly stopped moving.

This caused her to be frightened more thinking whoever was behind it must be entering the tomb by now.

"Please stay away from me!" Cara begged. She peered through her fingers to see who entered, but she could only see a shadow image, walking towards her. Immediately after, she shut her eyes closed out of fear.

"Cara?"

That voice… a voice she heard so familiar to her ears she never thought she could hear it again. Cara quickly opened her eyes then gazed back at the silhouetted image, who just stepped into the lighted area. It was Zane as he pulled down his hood, his eyes gazing at the girl he fell in love with.

Cara's eyes prickled while a lump grew in her throat. She could not believe her eyes. Was she seeing a ghost? Her heart began to beat rapidly once again, and the only being could do that to her was none other than…

"Zane!" She ran to his arms as Zane did the same to her. They both embraced each other tight, savoring that moment together. Cara laid her head on his shoulder while he rests his over her soft white hair. "I thought I never see you again…" She whispered softly with a tear fell down her cheek.

They slowly parted, their eyes locked at each other. Zane wiped her tear away, "Everything is going to be alright. I promise you that." Just hearing what he said made her overwhelm, especially happy now that she's with him. She didn't bother to ask him about the other details of how he manage to find her and everything…what was important to her was she was found and he was alive. Taking her by the hand, Zane walked out of the tomb with her.

Cole, Jay, and Kai were standing outside the tomb, waiting for Zane to come out.

Kai asked, his arms folded across his chest, "Why is he taking so long? And why would he even enter that tomb anyway?"

Jay shrugged, "I don't know…Maybe it has something to do with his sixth sense?"

"Maybe." Cole said.

Moments after, Zane finally stepped out of the tomb along with Cara by his side. Astonished, the three beamed then rushed towards her. "CARA!" They yelled in unison. Cara was just surprise as them. She was so glad they were all safe and sound as she embraced the three of them. "I'm so glad you guys are safe!"

When they pulled away, before they could even start at the details, Jay noticed Cara's left arm and right leg…He jumped away, shocked, "WHOA! You have robot parts! It's…It's..!"

Because of him, Cole and Kai saw it as well, startled by her unusual body parts.

This was it…Cara closed her eyes and braised herself against what Jay or the other two will say about her. She knew they'll say something negative about it, judging by the way they reacted.

"Cool! A real life cyborg!" The three declared together.

Or she could be wrong…

"Wait what?!" Cara bolted her eyes open then looked back at them, "You guys think I'm not weird?"

Jay shrugged off, "Why would we? I think it's awesome to have robot parts! It's like one of those super cyborg characters in the comic books I used to read, where he uses his robot arms that turned into weapons to fight."

"Is this what you're going to tell us…You know, before the bounty exploded?" Cole reassured.

Cara nodded, "Yes actually. I'm sorry I took so long to tell you guys…I guess now you know why I wore my jacket all the time."

Kai said, "What? You think we'll just reject you because of the way you looked? We're all different. You're just…"

"Unique…" Zane finished his sentence, smiling. Cara was engrossed by Zane. Deep down, she was really just overwhelmed by everything. Something it turned out to be she never knew it would happen to her. Her fears, her worries, and her solitude…gone. And by hearing what he said about her being unique in her own perspective way, she had realized she ha nothing fear about herself anymore.

Cara embraced him for a second time. Their hug was supposed to last twenty seconds if someone didn't have to pretend to cough. The two shut their eyes open then looked to their right, seeing Cole, Jay, and Kai watching them embrace the whole time, giving them the _would be eyebrow _look.

Zane and Cara blushed in embarrassment and quickly separated. For some odd reason, Zane felt uncomfortable hugging Cara if his brothers were staring at them or watching. Now he understands why Jay felt so shy with Nya in public, especially when Kai and Cole are around.

"Anyways…" Cole began, "Now that we have Cara now, we can get out of here!"

Jay did a fist pump, "Finally! Now the serpentines can't open the portal."

Cara bit her lips nervously. She twiddled her fingers and frowned, "I wouldn't be so sure about that…" She glanced away, "My pendant was…sort of taken away."

So much for their winning chance…In fact, Jay even rubbed his ears, not sure if he heard that correctly from her then he leaned his close to her, "Ah…excuse me can you repeat that?"

"My pendant was taken away…" She repeated. Jay smiled and chuckled as if it wasn't a big problem and then he panicked, "This is so bad! This is so bad to the highest level!"

"Your necklace is gone?!" Kai said, still not believing, "Wh-Where did it go?"

"She took it…" Cara answered, finding it hard to explain to them.

Cole's face contorted in confusion, "She? Who's **_she_**?"

Pressure has consumed Cara. Despite of everything that has happened to her which the ninjas doesn't know yet. She found it hard to sum the words to explain them that her aunt was the one who caused all this mayhem. "Look! She discovered my pendant is the fourth gem. I would really like to explain everything that's happened. But if we don't stop her right now, Ninjago will fall again!"

Zane held her by the shoulder, "Where do you think she is right now, Cara?" He asked without hesitation. She turned to him, "She's probably still inside the ritual chamber. And I know where it is…Follow me!"

Jay protested, "Another chamber? What is up with this temple and chambers?"

Afterwards, Cara led the ninjas back outside the funerary hall and into the hidden staircases that leads back to the upper levels of the temple. It was a good thing she was able to remember the directions when the serpentines dragged her to the tomb. They hoped they're not too late…

* * *

In the meantime, Helswig had just placed the four gems on the very top of the spire made out of black crystals from outside the temples after the snakes mined it. She told the serpentines to build one because it will be used as the open gates for the portal linked to the underworld…and it was ready.

"Soon…the creatures of the underworld will be mine to control…" She announced then she turned around, facing her serpentine minions, "And Ninjago will be ours!" All the snakes lifted their weapons, cheered, and screamed for her menacing victory, some even high five and did a victory dance.

Raising her hands, Helswig released her mystifying powers, mustering all the energy she has in her body. A great ball of energy clashed in her hands like lightning, getting bigger and bigger then she roared, "LET THE NEW ERA OF DARKNESS BEGIN!" Her loud voice echoed throughout the temple, even the ninjas heard it on their way…

Jay almost tripped when he heard a loud deep voice, "Whoa! What was that?!"

He may not know what it was, but Cara knew whose voice it was, and by the sound of it, she ran faster.

_"PLEASE! Don't tell me we're too late!" _She thought hopefully.

Once Helswig's whole dark energy was gathered into her grasp, she slammed that ball of energy to the four gems. The four gems of the underworld began to float high in midair, glowing brighter than ever as it aligned itself vertically in the center of the spire. Moments later, a beam of light struck down from the four gems to the middle and slowly divides the space between the material world and the underworld like opening gates.

Everyone in the ritual chamber shook before her powers, witnessing the great threat she has created. Most of them began having second thought about her being their new leader. Heck, they even regretted choosing her than Skales.

When Cara and the ninjas finally made it to the ritual chamber, they all gasped in fear, seeing they were too late. Cara cupped her hands on her cheeks, "Oh no! We're too late!"

Kai darted at Cole, "Quick! We need a plan fast!"

Cole was way ahead of him before he even asked that question. The first thing he gave an Atari was the gems floating in the center of the spire. He figured if grabbing the gems would discontinue the process of the portal.

Only problem was, they were out numbered, almost the whole population of serpentines covered the entire grounds. On the other hand, he noticed some huge warrior statues along the side of the walls that has enough distance to get close to the spire. That's when he finalized his plan.

He quickly gazed at Zane, "Zane, I want you to go behind those statues while we create a distraction so that you won't get spotted when you grab the gems. After that, we'll make our escape…" Then he sounded little in doubt, "Somehow…"

Zane went to Cara and held her by the shoulders, "Cara I want you to stay here while we get the gems."

Cara took a step back, "No…I am coming with you guys whether you like it or not." She glared at Helswig, who was standing on the top of the spire. "She has something that belongs to me and I want to take it back!"

He went closer to her, "But you'll hurt yourself! And I don't want that…" Cara took his hand and placed it over her chest, "I'll be fine Zane…I promise you that." She gave him a smile at the end. Zane was really worried about her, even scared that something bad might happen to her, but through her pale blue eyes, he could see her willingness.

He took a deep breath and released, "Alright. Just be careful."

She nodded in confirmation, "I will." Running towards the statues, Cara hid behind it as she silently went her way to the spire.

Meanwhile, back at the top of the spire, Helswig grinned all the way at her glorious achievement. She laughed deviously, "NO ONE WILL STOP ME NOW!"

"SAYS WHO!" A loud deep yet boastful voice echoed through the ritual chamber. Helswig turned around, including all the snakes to the back, caught its attention. Eyes widened, the three generals could not believe their eyes. Four ninjas, whom they thought they were dead, were holding out their elemental swords standing before them.

Helswig glared at the generals below, "I thought you got rid of them!?"

Fangtom, Acidicus, and Skalidor, huddled together, shaking in fear. "We…we did!" Skalidor stammered, quivering.

"Don't just stand there like buffoons! Get them!" She scolded furiously, her face all red.

Without hesitation, like none at all! All the serpentines came hurdling towards the ninjas with their sharp weapons thrust against them. Cole crunched his knuckles, "Alright! Time for some action!" He glanced to his three brothers, "Ready boys?"

Zane pulled his hood on, "Always!" And in that moment, they said that one word as they spinjitzu their way to one big battle. **"NINJAAAA GOOOO!"**

For the time being, Cara was already climbing her way up to the top of the spire, thanks to Cole's plan, she wasn't been detected. As she made it to the top, she saw Helswig standing behind her back, watching the battle between the ninjas and the snakes. While she wasn't looking, Cara darted at the four gems, especially her pendant. She looked back at Helswig, whose back was still turned. Cara decided to move closer, so she could reach the gems in short distance.

Next, she lay down on her chest and then stretched her arm as far to attain her pendant. In just short length, she smiled knowing she could grab it. But then, a hand clutched her by the wrist, preventing her from getting it. Cara gazed up and saw Helswig looking down at her with fury in her eyes. "And what do you think you're doing, dear?"

After that, she lifted her in just one hand, glaring at her. Then she gazed down at the ninjas.

"ENOUGH!" She screamed infuriatedly, her voice echoed in rage. Because of her loudness, even the serpentines froze. Zane looked up and saw Cara was being captured.

"Cara!" He cried.

"I heard about you ninjas…" She began, "And I must say…thank you for taking out Lord Garmadon for me."

Jay rubbed the back of his neck, just not being sure what to say, "Ah…y—you're welcome?"

Kai leaned close to Zane and whispered, "Is she really a she? Cu'z her voice sounds like a man!"

"Indeed…" Zane replied, nodding.

"Look! Whoever you are, you won't get away from this! Cole reprimanded.

"If I were you ninjas I would surrender if you don't want to see your friend dead!" She squeezed Cara's wrist, causing her wrist joint to tighten.

"Aaarrg!" She winced in pain, struggling to pull her hand away. Just seeing her in agony, Zane could not take it anymore. "LET HER GO!" He demanded.

Enthralled in a darkly way, she gave one sharp look at the white ninja. "And you must be the white ninja…I heard you are not human but a machine." She smirked, "From the words you're saying, you sounded like you care about her. So tell me droid…what do you know about caring someone? You're just a machine! You don't have a heart!"

"That's not true!" Cara protested then Helswig darted at her. "He may be a machine…but he has a heart unlike any other…while you have no heart at all!"

Unexpected, Cara bit Helswig's hand. She lets her go, rubbing her hand, "WHY YOU LITTLE—!"

And then, Cara shoved her, causing her to fall back and tumbled her way down the spire.

"Way ta' go Cara!" Cole cheered.

She simpered, "You've been a bad aunt for me!" Immediately after, Cara ran back to the gems and start reaching for her pendant. When all of a sudden, the entire ritual chamber quaked, followed by a vicious loud growl coming from the other side of the portal. Its sharp piercing noise stung everyone's ears. The ninjas quickly covered their ears shut.

Jay bothered to ask Kai, "What the heck is that noise!?"

"How should I know!" Kai replied, yelling. He looked at Zane, standing beside him, "What do you think it is Zane?"

"I think the beasts of the underworld are coming out!" Zane concluded.

Because of the tremendous force, the spire began to fall apart, and Cara was in the verge of falling along with it. When Zane saw her, he warned, knowing she was in great danger, "Cara get out of there now!" Then he ran towards the end of the spire, hoping he could make it to save her. Cara ran to the other side while looking back at her pendant. She was so close of grabbing it if it hadn't for the top to fall away from each other.

On the other side, she discovered a smooth surface, good enough to slide down to the bottom instead of climbing down the rough areas. As she slides down, big portions of rock began to fall like raindrops, came smashing to the ground. Cara sailed away as she landed safely into the trembling ground, although a round shadow just underneath her feet appeared, getting bigger and bigger. She had realized it wouldn't appear if there weren't any object hurdling above her.

She quickly looked up, gasped when a huge rock was indeed falling towards her. But that rock was suddenly being kicked by Zane to a different direction as it smashed against the wall.

He took her hand, "Come on!" They ran together further just as when the spire completely collapsed.

Everywhere was chaos. The portal was open, the beasts of the underworld were on its way, and the whole place was falling apart. Even the serpentines were terrified at the scene.

"LET'SSSSS GET OUT OF HERE!" Acidicus declared, slithering towards the door, while it was still unblocked. The rest of the snakes ran along side of him. They didn't care anymore if their new master tortured them, just as long as they want to get away from being buried alive.

And to think things got worst…well there was more to come. Hundreds of black tentacles with red stingers on the tips emerged wildly from the portal, attacking everything it touches. Zane and Cara stopped running when they saw them racing forth above their heads. They both looked back, and discovered it came from the portal.

"They're almost here…" Zane said, his eyes never left the portal. Kai was having a sword fight with his venomari opponent, but then it just decided to leave him, watching his other tribes run to the exit. That was rude…

"Hey! Come back here you coward! I'm not done with you yet!" Kai demanded irately.

Jay was about to strike back to his enemy when suddenly, a red stinger stung his foe on the back. Flummoxed, Jay saw him just paused in an instant, with his scythe raised over his scaly head. After that it wasn't pleasing to his eyes. The result caused his opponent to turn into ashes!

Jay screamed in fear. Then, he stopped, seeing more red stingers coming his way. With his sword of lightning, he slashed every tentacle that comes in his direction.

"Get. Away. From. Me!"

Cole on the other hand, could not longer risk pushing his plan anymore. Everywhere he looked, was falling, and soon enough the whole mountain might fall over them, and that he could not imagine. He placed his fingers to his lips then whistled the others. "We need to get out of here now!" He commanded.

"No!" Cara denied, running with Zane towards him and stopped, "We can't just leave the gems behind and let that portal just open…Those monsters will attack Ninjago!"

Just then, a pair of colossal claws like hands popped out behind the portal, grinding its sharp tips against the solid hard ground and then growled.

"But if we stay here we'll be buried alive. We might as well think of another plan when we get out. Cole responded. "And we need to get out now!"

Cara pointed at the monster, "That thing is already here! Everything will be too late if we don't do something about it."

"Cara's right Cole." Zane said. "If we let that monstrosity get out into Ninjago, many innocents will be perished."

Jay and Kai had just arrived behind Zane, and they have heard what he said. "As much as I want to agree with Cole to get out of here…Zane's right. We need another quick idea AND WE NEED IT QUICKER!" Jay implied, almost panicking.

While they were having their quick brainstorming session, Cara spoke, "What happens of we destroy one of the gems?" The ninjas stopped talking then glanced to her.

Cole pardoned, "Pardon?"

"Think about it guys…if we destroy one of them the whole portal will close permanently and the other gems will no longer be used again!"

"But we don't know what will happen if we do that." Cole looked at Zane, hoping his computer brain has the answer. "Zane, what does your computer brain say?"

"I have already calculated the possibilities and there are two. It's either the portal will remain permanently close or it will remain permanently open…" He answered. "But…if we destroy the right gem, there is a chance it will be permanently closed. Though it's only fifty percent…"

"Well it's better than no percent!" Kai snapped. "We have to try."

By that idea, the first thing that went to Cara's mind was her pendant. _"It said in the book that my pendant is the key to search for the other three gems…What if it's the one that needs to be destroyed? If that happens then the other gems will never be found or they'll be turned into ordinary ones. But…"_

Cara frowned. She had realized her pendant may be the key to a new chaos, but it was also a gift from her late parents. In fact, it was the only piece of memory she has with them and destroying it was harder for her to do. Clenched fists, Cara has decided.

When Cole was about to give out his new plan, he noticed Cara was no longer in their side.

"Where's Cara?" He said, "She was right here awhile ago." Zane, Kai, and Jay started looking everywhere to find her until Zane caught a glimpse of her running towards the portal, where the demon slowly crawls out from its dark realm.

"Cara!" He called out loudly. Jay and Kai saw her too. Jay raked his hair, "What is she doing?! She's gonna kill herself out there!"

Kai jumped over the rock, "C'mon we better help her!" And with this, the ninjas rushed their way for her aid.

In the intervening time, Helswig had just awoken from her terrible landing after she tumbled down the spire with her head to firstly hit on the solid ground. She also noticed her serpentines slaves were gone as well. But hearing the monster growl, her slaves don't matter anymore. She had witnessed the creature from the underworld has finally arrived to Ninjago!

The demon monster had red scaly skin. Its head was like a lizard, only it has eight red eyes on bothe sides and teeth bigger enough to munch a building. The black tentacles with red stingers came out from the portal were attached from its huge spiky body. And it wouldn't be a demon without its big pointy horn all swirled away on its skull.

"AT LAST YOU ARE FINALLY HERE!" Helswig bellowed, "COME TO ME MY DEMON! I AM THE ONE WHO UNLEASHED YOU FROM YOUR DARK REALM! I AM YOUR MASTER!"

Hearing her bellowed, the monster stopped moving and turned its head at her then walk towards her. She grinned, "YES! YES! COME TO— WHAT!?" In her evil gaze, she saw Cara climbing the monster's body, using its scales as a ladder. She was curious why she would do that until she realized the four gems were just floating in midair right on top of its head. Cara was on her way to take gemstones away. Helswig could have just use her powers to teleport to the head, but she could not if she hadn't transported her powers to the gems.

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" Helswig ran after her.

Cara managed to reach on the back of the demon's body. However, its tentacles felt her presence, and strike their way at her. When Cara saw the red stingers coming her way, she quickly ducked her head and those stingers were pierced through the monster's spiky elbow.

Immediately after, she went back running to the head.

Helswig was panting really hard because of the running. An exercise she was never used to, or better yet she never exercised since she has powers to teleport somewhere she desires. But now that she was powerless, she had to do it the hard way. While on her way, she saw the four ninjas were running after Cara. She may be slow this time, but that doesn't mean she cannot control the demon…

"DEMON! AS YOUR MASTER DESTROY THE NINJAS!"

The demon darted at the ninjas, watching them running through his eight red eyes. It lifted his claws and smashed it before them. "WHOA! WATCH OUT!" Jay warned. All of them did a summersault over the creature's claws before they could crash right at it. When they landed, they saw another one coming towards them, followed by another loud piercing growl.

Covered their ears, the ninjas rolled apart, dodging the beast's mighty claws. Since the demon moved, Cara was losing her balance, with her right leg hanging while her left foot was the one supporting her weight. Yet, with her quick thinking, she stomped her metal made leg back, and caught to her feet again. Then she ran again, baring the noise.

"Zane! Do you think you can shut its mouth?!" Kai said, still covering his ears.

"I could try!" Zane answered loudly. He pulled out his elemental sword of ice. He twirled his sword in his hand, thrust it forward, and aimed at the mouth as frosts of ice blasted out from the blade. Ice began to crawl around its jaws until it completely engulf the whole mouth. The sharp noise came to an end.

"FINALLY! MUSIC TO MY EARS!" Jay announced loud and proud. Cole may be sometimes irritated by Jay's loud mouth, but it was much better hearing him than the demon. Kai gave a pat on Zane's back, "Nice job Zane!" All of a sudden, they heard the ice was beginning to crack inch by inch.

Zane gasped, "It's going to roar again!" And indeed he was right…the ice barricaders he created shattered like glasses. Seconds later, it roared earsplittingly loud. Once Cara made it to the head, she started covering her ears, though the noise still pierced through her ears, causing her to have a painful migraine, plus she felt her mind was about to explode.

She gazed up, seeing the four gems right before her eyes. This time, she was determined to grab it, even if she has to uncover her ears. As she did, Cara bared with the aching sharp pain in her head while she reached her hand for her pendant. Moments after, she successfully grabbed it. She smiled all the way, "I have it…I have it!" Zane may not be able to hear her, but he did see her having the fourth gem in her hands.

He glanced to his brothers and shouted, "CARA HAS THE GEM!"

Cole yelled at Cara, "DESTROY IT!" Cara read his lips. She knew he was telling her to destroy it.

Would she be willing to do it?

"I KNOW YOU CAN'T DESTROY THAT MY DEAR…"

Cara turned around. She was shock when she saw her aunt standing before her. She pulled her pendant away, "It's over Aunt Helswig! You can just forget conquering Ninjago! I have the fourth gem!"

She laughed demonically, "MY DEAR CARA! WE BOTH KNOW YOU ARE WEAK…EVEN BEFORE YOU COULDN'T STAND AGAINST OTHERS WHEN EVERYONE WAS PUSHING YOU AWAY! YOU CAN'T EVEN STAND UP TO YOURSELF! SO WHY DON'T YOU HAND ME THAT GEM AND I'LL SPARE YOUR LIFE AND YOUR FRIENDS'!" She stretched out her hand, "WE CAN WORK THIS WAY OUT TOGETHER…"

Out of all she said, she was right. Cara didn't know how to stand against others or even to herself whenever there are people mocked her and pushed her around through her childhood years. She was weak before…but not anymore.

"You know what! I have had it with you!" Cara scolded, walking towards her while Helswig began to step away, "You are the most horrible person in Ninjago! You've been a bad parent to me through the years! You made my life so miserable! And most importantly, you've lied to me all my life!"

Helswig started to feel afraid of her own niece, never in her life she has seen her standing against her. Then suddenly, she tripped over a bulky scale as her hood hooked behind the spikes and fell back.

Cara stopped in front of her, glaring at her. "You may be right about me being weak…but that was before! And I don't want to see your face ever again!"

She threw her pendant to the ground and stomped her foot hard over it, causing it to break as its light began to pour out through the cracks.

Helswig clawed her face down, "WH—WHAT ARE Y—YOU DOING?!"

"Something my parents should've done a long time ago!" She stomped the gem again, "This is for them!"

"NO DON'T DO IT!"

She stomped it harder, "This is for lying to me all these years!"

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEAS HOW LONG I'VE BEEN SEARCHING FOR THAT!?"

She lifted her right foot as high as she can, "And this is for hurting my friends!" Then she stepped on it in her full strength.

"NOOOOOOO!"

Cara's pendant broke down into three fragments. Wild rays of light erupted luridly around them. And then out of the blue, her broken gem guzzled all the lights in and suddenly exploded, like a star would reach to its final stage.

Since Cara was too close to the gem, she was blown away, her head knocked hard against the solid wall. As for the three gems, they became unstable and each of them shattered into dusts, but most of wall, the portal began to shrink.

Helswig cried out, "NOOOOO! MY POWERS ARE IN THOSE GEMS!"

For the demon, it slowly went his way back inside to its dark realm. When Helswig found out, she kept pounding its hard skin, "NO! NO! NO! YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE GOING BACK! I COMMAND YOU TO STAY!"

She stood up but then she couldn't. Her hood was hooked on the demon's spiky skin. She tried reaching it to unhook, yet she could not stretch her arms further.

Her fats must be the caused of it perhaps? What's worst, she'll be coming along with the demon back to the underworld, alone and powerless. Soon, the portal closed for good.

* * *

Meanwhile…Skales was still on the run in labyrinth hallways of the temple. He has been there for five hours, and still he could not find the right direction to the exit, when all of a sudden, black chain on his body vanished into smokes! He stopped, looking over his neck, wrists, and tail. He laughed ever so blissful, "I'M FREE! I'M FREE! I'M FREEEE!"

Just then, he heard rumbling noises, or rather running feet, coming his way. He turned around, and saw his snake tribes, including the generals, hurdling his way. Skales glared at them. He was mad at them for picking their new leader than him.

He crossed his arms over his chest, "Well…Well! Look who decided to change their mi—!"

The great Skales was run over by his own snake people. But with the numbers of serpentine running along the hallways, their weight was too much for the old wooden floors to hold. It started to give in. Still being run over, he heard the floors break more and more…

He yelled, "SSSSTOPPED RUNNING YOU FOOLSSS OR WE'LL—!"

Too late. The foundation of the floor collapsed as the snakes fall like pouring beads. They all crashed down to the lower levels, then another…and another…and another, until they landed in the very bottom of the temple, which was the funerary chamber. Back where they belong, underneath Ninjago…

* * *

"Look! The portal's closed!" Kai announced, pointing his finger at it.

"And it looks like that monster is gone for good too." Cole stated. Seeing it, Jay jumped with his fist up high, "Yahoo! Cara did it!"

Zane squinted his eyes, from the falling debris as he searched for Cara, "But I don't see Ca—"

His body stiffened, his eyes widened, and his mechanical heart felt it shut down on him, when he saw her body lying cold on the ground.

Immediately, he ran towards her while the three followed behind. Zane kneeled down besides her, holding her shoulders, then carefully turned her to face him. Cara was cold and unconscious, and that made him worried so much.

"Is she alright?" Jay asked, worriedly. Zane could not answer him back. Instead, he placed his hand over her soft cheek, hoping she would feel it or respond to it, but there was none. Precipitously, the ground trembled even stronger than before. The ceiling was also about to fall on them.

"We have to get out of here NOW!" Cole commanded in final statement. And so, Zane carried her in his arms then ran with his brothers back to where they came. Although, they noticed the door was already blocked by huge piles of rocks.

"The exit is blocked!" Jay said, running.

Cole furrowed his eyebrows, focusing on the rocks. "Not if I can help it!" He jumped high in the air with his fist pulled back. Just when he got closer, he jabbed the rock with all his might. The huge rocks that were blocking the door smashed away into smaller portions.

Not a minute soon, they were back into the labyrinth hallways, only this time the whole place was in severe conditions, and it was harder for them to see which path leads to the gates, since most of them were barricaded by the fallen pillars.

"Oh great! Now where do we go!?" Kai complained, searching for another accessible path.

There was one hallway that has a staircase going down…If Cara was awake, she could have recognized where it lead to. Zane was looking at it, telling his instincts to go there.

"Follow me!" He said. And they did. Running down the staircase, through another narrow hallway, and into the antechamber, a door awaits them. It was the same door Cara found when she was trying to escape.

They knew it was lock, so Kai decided to use his spinjitzu to kick the door open. Strong gush of wind blew inside, the blizzard meets them again. "We made it!" Cole confirmed loudly, his voice echoed throughout the snow mountains. A loud rumbling noise was heard next, coming behind the ninjas. They all turned around, and saw an avalanche pouring down to them.

Cole rubbed the back of his neck, feeling bad for causing it, "Oops…"

Zane darted at the door, "Quick! Use that door as a snowboard to get down the mountain!"

With this, Jay used his sword to cut down the latches as the door fell down before them.

Zane gently placed Cara down on the door. Cole went to the front while Kai and Jay were on the end. They both looked back and saw the avalanche was pouring in faster and closer.

Cole yelled at them, "What are you guys waiting for?! Push it!" Without hesitation, Jay and Kai pushed the door as it started to slide down the mountain. The two quickly jumped onto the door. From the distance, Dr. Julien and Nya noticed the mountain where the ninjas went avalanched.

Dr. Julien gasped, "Oh my..!"

"I hope they're ok…" Nya mumbled, worrying.

As they glide down the snowy mountain, the ninjas found it hard to see through the blizzard.

Also, the door became splinters in every minute because of the rough terrains, starting at the back. Jay and Kai moved closer to the front. Jay however, noticed there was a tree straight ahead.

"Look out there's a tree!" He warned. Cole held onto the door tight, putting his weight to the right. He steered it to that direction. They passed the first tree. He sighed in relief, "That was close!"

Kai saw two trees. "There's another one! I mean…two!" This time, Cole steered the door to the left. Again, they managed to dodge it. He wiped his forehead, as if he was sweating, "Whew that was even closer!"

Through her binoculars, Nya beamed, seeing her brother with his friends riding on a door was safe and coming their way. She lowered her binoculars, "They're all ok!"

Then, she gave it to Dr. Julien. Not only did he see his son safe, he saw Cara as well.

"They brought Cara back too!" He confirmed and frowned, "Although she seems…"

"I can see Nya and my father from here." Zane announced. He looked back at Cara, who was still lying down, not showing any signs of movements at all. Zane was beginning to thing that she could be…

"LOOK OUT!" Kai cautioned, pointing his finger at a small rock dead ahead. Jay waved off and snorted, "Pff! Please…It's just a small—!" When the door hit that small rock, the door tipped over, and the ninjas came flying away in the air as Jay yelled, "ROOOOOOCK!"

Soon, they crashed down into a twenty foot deep snow below them while the avalanched slowed down before it could reach where they landed. The storm calmed down too.

Shocked, Dr. Julien and Nya ran for them. Kai punched his fist out through the thick snow, pulling himself out. Dr. Julien helped his son. Nya grabbed Jay's legs and pulled him, since it was the only part of him that can be pulled. Cole popped his head out of the snow, unable to move his body, "Ah…a little help here please."

"Are you alright my son?" Dr. Julien asked. Zane smiled at him, happy he saw his father again, but that smile shifted into a frown. His eyes went wide, "Cara!" He started glancing over the snow, thinking she might be still buried deep. "Everyone, find her!" He ordered. Digging through the snow, they kept looking and looking for her, but they found it hard to, especially their friend has a white hair. She was still no where to be found.

Until…Zane spotted something gleaming three meters away from him. That's when he realized it was Cara's left mechanic arm! He immediately ran to her and starts excavating.

Moments later, he found her peaceful face, grabbed her under the arms, and pulled her in. He gently laid her on the snow. Zane puts his hand underneath her head, lifting her head a little while the other over her cheek. He spoke, "Cara…Cara…please wake up."

Again, she did not respond nor move. The rest of the group went closer to them. Nya's eyes prickled. "Is she…" Dr. Julien took off his glasses and rubbed his right eye, feeling a tear in his eyes. Zane felt something broke inside of him. He moved his hand over to her left hand, holding it. He remembered they way they held their hands together, thinking how warm it was when they were close. The moments they shared and the feelings he had with her, was the best thing that has happened for him…a nindroid.

Nya wrapped her arms around Jay, not wanting anyone to see her cry. All of them looked down, frowning. They have lost a good friend, the one who led them to find the four gemstones, the one who stopped Helswig from conquering Ninjago, and the one who closed the portal. Cara was a hero.

Zane closed his eyes and leaned his head onto her, still hoping she could feel warmth. His hand moved close to her fingers when all of a sudden, he felt a spark!

He pulled his hand away, "Ouch!" And then, he heard a moan coming from her lips. He darted at her and a minute later, she began to open her pale blue eyes as a sign of life.

To their surprise, everyone around her shut their eye's wide open, their frown curved into a smile once again.

"She's alive!" Nya declared, blissfully. Zane helped her sat up, gently pushing her back. But her gaze drifted to him, who was smiling back at her, his eyes met hers. He wrapped his around her. She hugged him back. "I thought I never see you again…" Zane whispered.

"I told you I'll be fine. I promised didn't i?" She replied softly. They parted, still their gaze locked at each other then they he pulled her into his arms again and kissed her passionately.

Everyone went quiet, watching them kissed, though it was not the kind of awkward silence.

It was more like they were proud at Zane. His father sighed, smiling, "It seems my son found love…"

Zane and Cara didn't realize they were being watched as they kiss, but it didn't matter to them anymore…and so does Jay.

_"Hey you know what! If they can kiss in front of everyone, so can i!" _Jay thought confidently_._

Ad with that, Jay suddenly held Nya close, leaned her back down, and gave her a fruitful passionate kiss. Nya's eye's shut open wide, surprised at his sudden gesture. But soon her eyes closed in bliss, wrapping her arms around him while he runs her fingers through her hair.

Wonder what will Kai react to that?

"Jay! You're kissing my sister right in front of me! That's gross!" He looked away, almost gagging at the scene. Cole and Dr. Julien laughed to his reaction.

* * *

It has been a long day gone, they have all travelled back to the shore, where the mini bounty was impelled in the shallow waters. Happy as they were coming back home, there was one problem…they can't all fit in the small ship now that Cara is with them. Plus, they might sink too if all were in the mini ship.

"So…how are we going to solve this?" Kai asked, scratching his noggin.

Jay shrugged, "I don't know…maybe some of us will have to swim while the rest is in the ship?"

"Or…you could use the Destiny's Bounty, now that it is fixed."

Froze, eyes went wide, and jaw dropped. The voice they heard could one belong to…

Turning their heads to the left, they saw Sensei Wu standing before them with Dr. Julien's teabot by his side, holding his tea cup and tea pot. Nya, Cara, and the ninjas beamed at his presence. They all ran towards him, giving him a group hug!

"It's good to see you again, Sensei!" Cole said, "But how did you find us? Heck, how did you even get here?!"

He chuckled, "I had a little help…" He gestured his arms to his side. They all followed where his pointing at, and to their surprise, he was right about the Destiny's Bounty being fixed. The port bow and the starboard were replaced by narra woods. Half of the ship was completely whole again. Except for the rocket booster on the starboard, and the left one was used for the mini bounty.

But the one thing they were more surprised, were a group of villagers holding their ores, popped behind the balcony and a very familiar looking boy appeared at the bow. Cara knew that boy, he was the one who led them to his village, celebrating their festival.

Cara spoke, "Wait a minute, those people…they're from the village we visited back from the island." She glanced back to Sensei Wu, "And you were there?"

Sensei Wu nodded, "Yes indeed…with their big help, they manage to fix the bounty and I followed you back here." He smiled at the end, "And I must say, Cara…you danced wonderfully."

That was unexpected. She didn't know…well they didn't know Sensei Wu was at the same island as they were. She didn't know he was in the village watching her dance! Cara blushed at those words he said. "Uhmm…thanks I guess." She replied.

Jay realized, "Whoa…if you were in the same island as we were and you knew we were in the situation where the world has come to an end...why didn't you help us? We could've needed you!"

Teabot poured some hot tea into the cup and gave it To Sensei Wu. Sipping his tea, he released a contentment sigh, "Aah…But you didn't need my

help. You managed to find all the four gems, even there were challenges in the way. But you did not give up. You stopped the serpentines and you

closed the portal to the underworld. All of those you accomplished to do it by teamwork. And that…what makes me proud of you ninjas."

For what it was worth, he was correct. The ninjas, even the rest were proud of themselves.

Silence came around until Kai broke it. "So…now that you're back and everything the way it was…does that mean we can have our vacation now?"

He took another drink, finishing it, and gave it to Teabot. "Eh, why not…you deserve it."

The ninjas beamed and exchanged glances at each other.

"It's about time we have our vacation!" Cole snapped, "I wonder where will go this time?"

"Perhaps somewhere no reporters and fan girls chasing us?" Zane implied.

Nya added, "You know…there are a lot of island we can visit. I'm sure one of them has fine beaches."

Kai placed his arm around his sisters shoulder, "I like the way you think sis! I had enough with these cold conditions anyway."

While they were suggesting a place to have their vacation, Cara had a sad look in her eyes now that, everything was back to normal and her gem searching mission was over. Her aunt was no longer with her. She'll be back alone in her old miserable home with Snow, and she won't probably see Zane more often. One thing for sure, she'll definitely miss the adventure she had.

Cara felt a warm grip around her hand. She looked up and saw Zane gazing at her with a smile.

Sensei Wu, Dr. Julien, Nya…almost everyone looked at her. The way they did, was not the look that Cara was afraid of or familiar whenever people mocked her.

It was a look that says…'Welcome Home.'

When Cara found out, she was overwhelmed, yet confused. "Are you guys…serious? I'm…"

Nya stepped forward, "Well of course we are! You're like a new member to us when you first came in. But now…you're like part our family."

Cara's eyes felt a tear traced down her cheek, "R-Really?" All of them nodded in affirmation.

Now that she's really overwhelmed, Cara jumped to Nya and hugged her, "Thank you! Thank you!" Nya almost fell back, but didn't.

"Here's to another new member!" Kai announced, raising his fists.

All of them raised their fists, and said it in unison, "Here! Here!"

Few minutes later, the ninjas helped Dr. Julien put the other rocket booster back to their newly fixed Bounty. Since it was working, the villagers no longer need to paddle. Soon, the ship was ready to sail away to the sea. Beyond the horizon, the sun finally to set down. Cara found it very beautiful to watch it, but it will become more beautiful when it rise again for tomorrow now she has real friends as family.

Watching the sunset, Zane held Cara close to him as they stood by the stern. Their eyes were locked for the second time and kissed deeply. The best part was…Ninjago is safe again.

And who knows…She might learn Spinjitzu!

* * *

**So what do you think? I'm sorry if it's to looooong…but I love writing it that way. Plus, I don't want to lose inspiration to finish it. I'm suppose to **

**release this before the new season arrive…but it took longer for me to finish than I thought. Since there is a new season, I heard Zane will have a**

** love interest name, Pixal. Who knows…I might start writing a new fan fiction about them after the whole season is done. Please leave your **

**reviews and tell me what you think? R AND R!**


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